Southern Rose
by C-chan96
Summary: Ellie is friend of Dwayne's who moves to Minnesota. When her parents find out where Dwayne is attending High School, they enroll her too. What will happen when she falls head over heels for the team captain, Charlie Conway, when he's still dating Linda?
1. Ellie King

Okay, this chapter is only introducing Ellie so it'll be about her. The next chapter will focus on Charlie and the others too. This story will mainly focus on Ellie and Charlie though so if you don't like Charlie/OC, you may not like this one very much. But I like to think it's different...but I'm not you people so I don't' know how you feel. Review and leave your comments, but please, try to be gentle! It's my first MD fic...  
  
Disclaimer- I don't own the Mighty Ducks, I only own Ellie and her family.  
  
-Prologue-  
  
She let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. They had been in this car for DAYS! And it wasn't letting up. Why couldn't they have just FLOWN? Her parents were moving her across the country. Texas had been her home her entire life and now they move her to Yankeeville. Fun fun.  
  
She ran a hand through her shoulder-length hair as she folded her arms tightly around herself. It was FREEZING!  
  
"Momma! Daddy! It's cold! Can you turn down the air-conditioner?" she said, frowning.  
  
She had always been sensitive to the cold. She had a bad feeling about this. Moving North meant cold. The cold scared her. The most snow she had ever seen in her life at one time was the year before when it snowed three inches.  
  
Not quite a Minnesota winter.  
  
"Sorry Nick, we turned it off two hours ago. The cold you're feeling is from OUTSIDE. Grab a blanket or something." Her mother, Kristen, said calmly from the front seat.  
  
The girl, Ellie, sighed and leaned back of their silver 2002 Ford Explorer to look for the blanket. There were mounds of bags and suitcases piled back there. They had rented a moving van but it couldn't hold everything. They just put the few things that didn't fit in their personal car. Luckily for her, the blanket was one of the keepers.  
  
Spotting it, she took a hold of the fluffy pink blanket as they hit a bump. She slammed her head on the ceiling and muttered something under her breath.  
  
"Sorry sweetheart." Her mom said, not taking her eyes off the road.  
  
"It's okay mom." She said just loud enough for them to hear, rubbing her head and cuddling in her blanket.  
  
"Ellie Nichol King, do you have your seatbelt on?" her father, Samuel, asked, turning back to face her.  
  
He had heard her bump her head on the ceiling.  
  
Great.  
  
She smiled sweetly, buckling herself securely into the seat and said, "Yeah daddy. I am. Why do you ask?"  
  
He just cocked an eyebrow, smiled at her and turned back to her mother to finish whatever conversation they had started.  
  
Ellie let out a sigh. It had been close. She had thought for sure he would've said something. They had gotten in a car wreck on a bridge when she was small. She, her dad, and her brother had been going home from a day at her dad's work when a truck slammed into her dad's red Ford pickup truck. They hadn't been hurt that bad but now her parents were paranoid about that kind of stuff.  
  
She shivered one last time as she curled up even more and let her eyes droop. She watched the buildings go by as the sounds of Superchic[k]'s "High School" lulled her to sleep. Soon enough she was off in dreamland.  
  
Two hours later she was awakened by the sound of a hockey puck slamming into the car window. She sat up, startled.  
  
Catching her breath she looked outside. There stood a tall boy with a hockey stick. He was arguing with her dad about the window.  
  
With the boy were two girls and a group of guys. They were about her age. She figured her dad was going to pound them if she didn't do something. As Ellie stepped out of the car, her mom told her to get back in.  
  
"Don't worry mom, I'm just going to calm dad down so we can get on to the new house." Ellie said with a smile as she walked over to where her dad was asking why they smacked the car with a hockey puck.  
  
"Look mister, it's not like I MEANT to hit your car! It's a little something called an ACCIDENT!" the boy said. He looked pretty mean and had a bandanna on his head.  
  
Deffinantly no brownie points for him. Her dad didn't like people in gangs. But the people around him suggested maybe he wasn't in a gang. Maybe he just had "the look".  
  
"Dad?" she said quietly.  
  
For the first time, the group of kids noticed the girl. Most had a look of confusion but only one had a look of recognition.  
  
"ELLIE! Nickie-girl is that you?" Dwayne said, grinning ear to ear, his signature cowboy hat adorning his features.  
  
"Dwayne! Hi! What are you doing here?" she answered, grinning. He had been a friend back home and it was nice to see a familiar face.  
  
"I'd like to ask the same of you! I almost did recognize you folk! How are ya Mr. King?" Dwayne answered.  
  
"Dwayne? I'm surprised I didn't see you! What are you doing hanging around kids like this anyway?" Mr. King asked the native Texan.  
  
"Don't worry Mr. K, there okay dudes." He said.  
  
"And girls!" the two girls retorted in unison. It seemed that was a common mistake.  
  
The rest of the group laughed at this. Yes, that definantly happened often. Ellie was glad to know someone. Since her only sibling, her older brother Cameron, was going to collage here, they moved up with him. She didn't know why, they just did.  
  
"Well, then why did this "okay dude" hit my car window with his hockey puck?" Mr. King asked Dwayne.  
  
"Aw, don't worry 'bout him. He didn't mean it. He just needs to work on his aim a bit. Fulton is always shooting pucks everywhere. But I'm glad he did. Otherwise I wouldn't have known y'all were here." Dwayne replied.  
  
This seemed a worthy answer to Mr. King. "Okay then, El, come on. We have to get to the house to unpack."  
  
Ellie frowned. "But daddy, I just found out Dwayne is here! Can't I stay and hang out with them? Just for a little while?"  
  
"But then who will unpack your stuff? Me and your mother?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"No, of course not! I just won't unpack it this very minute. Please daddy? Please?" she asked, giving him the sweetest, most pleading look she could muster.  
  
He collapsed at the sight. "Fine, fine. But you better be safe, okay? I don't wanna look everywhere for you just to find out you've been mugged and killed. Okay?"  
  
"If you insist." She said, grinning.  
  
Her father smiled and walked back to the car. You could hear her mom and dad arguing about why Ellie wasn't in the car.  
  
Mr. King stood up reluctantly and walked back over to the group of kids. "Sorry kiddo, you're mom says we're unpacking tonight. You can get together with them come other time."  
  
"What? But why?" she asked, frowning again.  
  
He told her about how they needed to get everything unpacked and ready so they could enroll her for school the next day. She pouted, muttering how she deserved to miss at least ONE DAY of school because of the move.  
  
They all said their goodbyes as Ellie got back into the car. They drove to their new house and started unpacking.  
  
Ellie sighed as she got the last box in her room. This would take awhile. There were boxes everywhere and she had no clue where to begin.  
  
The distraught girl sat on her bed and stared at the ceiling. It was a pale cream color. No decorations except for a single fan with a light.  
  
Then she turned her attention to her walls.  
  
Just as plain.  
  
With a sigh of frustration, she grabbed a box and started putting things where they belonged. The faster she unpacked, the faster she could meet up with the others. She couldn't help but wonder what school she would be going to.  
  
After a few hours of relentless unpacking, she had about half of her room decorated and unpacked.  
  
Scooting the rest of the boxes up against the far wall, she fell back onto her bed, crawled under the covers without getting dressed for bed and said blissfully to herself as she looked around the room, "And she said, 'it is good'".  
  
Grabbing a pillow, she let a breath of contentment as she fell into a deep sleep. 


	2. First Day Encounters

Thank you joshrox116 for being my first (and only) reviewer! In light of your feedback, I'll dedicate this one to you! ^_^ I hope you enjoy it!  
  
Okay, I know the last one was all about Ellie but it's supposed to introduce the character and give her depth. This next one will have the characters we all know and love. And as you probably figured out, the Ducks were in the last one for a brief moment. Anyway, this fic will mostly be centered around Charlie and Ellie so if you don't like Charlie/Original Character pairings, you probably won't get much of a kick out of this one. There will be some parts with others but it's mainly how Charlie and Ellie deal with their situation and relationship and stuff. But I'd like to think it's interesting...oh well. There probably won't be much hockey because I don't know much about it but there will still be some. By the way, do they live in dorms there or do they go every day but live at home?  
  
Disclaimer- I don't own the Mighty Ducks, only Ellie.  
  
-Chapter 1-  
  
Sunlight poured through the window.  
  
Ellie covered her eyes and groaned. This was insane. She couldn't believe the brightness. WHY did she have to put her bed by the window? WHAT possessed her to do so?  
  
Rolling over, she rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times. This wasn't too fun.  
  
The still sleep-induced girl stood up reluctantly and walked over to her dresser, pulled out some clothes, slipping them on unceremoniously.  
  
Walking in a zombie-like fashion to her mirror, she stared at her reflection with a frown.  
  
Grumbling again, she walked over to her dresser again and pulled out a brush, running through her rebellious curls.  
  
Her piercing blue eyes screamed frustration as her hair chose THIS particular day to spaz out on her.  
  
"GRRRR!!!!! WHY MEEE?!" she yelled as she slammed the brush on the smooth surface of the dresser and grabbed a scrunchie. Putting her hair up in a ponytail would have to do.  
  
She gave herself one last look. Leaving out the hair, she didn't look TOO horrible. It could be worse.  
  
Running downstairs to get breakfast, she grabbed a piece of toast and ran out the door.  
  
And about 5 minutes later, realized she had NO idea where she was going. She turned back and ran back to the house, feeling like a total idiot. Looks like she'd have to take a ride from her PARENTS...peachy...just peachy...  
  
Charlie Conway walked into class, beaming. Life was good. He was now back to being Captain of the Hockey team, they beat Varsity, Banksie was back, they were ALLOWED to be Ducks again and Linda liked him. He didn't think it was possible for life to get ANY better than this.  
  
He sat back in his chair, very proud of himself. He was wearing a hunter green shirt and black baggy jeans. He greeted his friends as they all started talking about last week's game. They had really put Varsity in their place.  
  
Suddenly a girl walked into the classroom. She didn't look familiar so he assumed she was new.  
  
She was wearing khaki cargo pants and a bright pink shirt under a navy fleece pullover. Her golden blonde hair was pulled up into a ponytail made up of a mass of curls. A few stray hairs decorated the sides of her face. She had the bluest eyes too.  
  
Charlie started to space off as the teacher began introducing her to the class.  
  
"This is Eleanor King. She-huh? Oh sorry, Ellie King. She just moved here and I expect you all to be civil and make her feel welcome." The teacher said sternly through a pair of tiny glasses. She was the type obsessed with welcoming the new kids.  
  
"Charlie? Would you mind showing our new student around this week? Help her find her classes. You have several classes with her and have a pass to leave five minutes early and arrive five minutes late on the classes you don't have with her. I expect you will show her the many wonders of Eden Hall Academy?" Mrs. Laker snapped at him, knocking him out of his reverie.  
  
He nodded quickly as he looked back at the girl. She walked over and sat next to him, giving him a warm smile before turning back to the front of the class.  
  
Charlie turned away, hoping his face wasn't as red as it felt. HE HAD A GIRLFRIEND for crying out loud! So why was his heart beating really fast?  
  
He gave his head a quick shake, trying to clear his thoughts. His friend Adam Banks gave him a funny look before shrugging and turning back to the teacher's lecture.  
  
This had to stop.  
  
Maybe he would invite Linda out to dinner or a movie tonight. Yeah, that would help him forget about little Miss Distract-A-Guy-From-His-Girlfriend. Not that it was her FAULT, it was just the truth. The cold hard truth. This wasn't looking too good.  
  
He was cruelly knocked out of his reverie for the second time that day when he heard a soft Southern voice whisper, "Hi. My name's Ellie, are you Charlie Conway?"  
  
He looked at the source of the voice to see the girl. She had an accent. He couldn't help but wonder where she was from.  
  
When he realized she had asked him a question, he struggled to keep himself from blushing. "Oh, uh sorry. I guess I'm out of it this morning. Yeah, I'm Charlie. And it seems I'm your guide for the next week."  
  
She smiled at him. She could live with this. Maybe Minnesota wouldn't be so bad after all.  
  
The teacher called for their attention and class went on. Charlie was finally able to clear his head despite the fact she was sitting right next to him. He reminded himself over and over how much he liked Linda and how it wasn't worth it.  
  
Charlie noticed the time and he and Ellie were dismissed to go on to their next class. The two teens took their time as they casually strolled down the hallway, looking around for her next class.  
  
Chorus.  
  
Charlie noticed he knew nothing about this girl. Sure, that usually wouldn't bother him but he could tell right away he would be spending time with her. Even if only for her first week there  
  
Looking down at his feet for a second, he turned back to Ellie, trying to think of what to say. "So um, where are you from?"  
  
She turned to him with a slight smile. "Arlington, Texas."  
  
He nodded. "That would explain the accent. Hey, I know another person from Texas."  
  
"Really? Who?" she asked, raising her eyebrows curiously.  
  
"A guy named Dwayne. He's on the JV hockey team with me." Charlie said casually, not even knowing Ellie knew Dwayne.  
  
"Oh, Dwayne. Yeah, I've known him for years." Ellie said with a grin, as if recalling memories.  
  
"Really? Wow...it's a small world...well, speaking of Dwayne and hockey, have you ever played?"  
  
"No, actually I haven't. They don't believe in hockey in Texas. We're Baseball, Football, Volleyball and just about ever other ball-related sport in the universe but no hockey. No ice, no hockey. We don't even have a hockey team." Ellie said with a smile, hugging her binder closer to her chest.  
  
"Really? NO hockey? No pro team? Not even ice-skating? Man, that must bite..." Charlie said, trying to imagine a life without hockey. It was just inconceivable!  
  
"Yeah...but I guess what you don't know, you can live without. I mean, we do have ice-skating, it's just indoors." Ellie said, cringing at her experience with ice-skating...not pretty...  
  
"Really? You ever ice-skated before?" Charlie asked.  
  
She smiled a kind of crooked smile. "Yeah, for like 5 seconds. It was in like the third or fourth grade. I went with my Girl Scout Troup, don't laugh. Hey, you're laughing! It's not funny! Charlie it's not funny!" she said, scrunching up her nose when Charlie started laughing hysterical.  
  
"S-sorry...it's just. Never mind." He said, his eyes shining.  
  
She gave him a playful glare before continuing. "Anyway, where was I...oh yeah, ice-skating. Well, we went out to a mall in Grapevine and I rented some skates sand my dad took me out. I went around about one or two times before falling then decided ice-skating wasn't for me and that I never wanted to see a pair of ice skates again." Ellie let out a laugh. "I was humiliated."  
  
"You fell once and gave up? Why? I couldn't make it one lap without falling when me and the Ducks were still District Five...man we stunk." Charlie said, laughing at the memory. It seemed like it was so long ago when Gordon Bombay took the D-5 players and molded them into the Ducks.  
  
"Ducks? District Five?" Ellie said questionably, furrowing her eyebrows.  
  
"My hockey team. We're not too shabby. In fact, not to brag but they named a Pro hockey team after us." Charlie said with a grin.  
  
"Really? Who?"  
  
"The Anaheim Mighty Ducks."  
  
"Wow...that's really cool!" she said, her eyes gleaming. She could only imagine how good they were if a pro team was named after them.  
  
"We thought so too. But back to what I was saying...we beat the Varsity team last week. I think their planning ways to kill us right now. We aren't their favorite little fishies...or shall I say "duckies"." Charlie said fondly.  
  
"Ah, cool." Ellie said, making the connection in her mind. She couldn't help but smile at him.  
  
"Hey, do you think sometime I could take you out on the ice? You know, teach you how to skate? I think you would like it after awhile." Charlie asked, totally forgetting about Linda.  
  
"Sure. I would like that. But don't laugh at me! You have to PROMISE not to laugh!" Ellie said, completely serious.  
  
"Of course, my lips are sealed." Charlie said, emphasizing his point by "zipping" his lips with his fingers.  
  
Ellie grinned at him. She really liked this guy. He was nice, sweet, polite and not too bad looking. Okay, so she thought he was the cutest guy that had ever graced her with his presence but that wasn't the point.  
  
At that moment, the rest of the school poured out from the classrooms and began standing around, talking to each other in the middle of the hall.  
  
"Well, I should probably get you to class, shouldn't I?" Charlie sad, remembering the Choir classroom was on the other side of the building.  
  
"Yes we should. Lead the way." She said grinning.  
  
Charlie and Ellie began filtering through the crowds, trying to find the best path to their destination.  
  
When they finally got there, Charlie and Ellie said their goodbyes and he was off again. He still had about 3 minutes to get to his next class. Well, not including the extra five he was granted because of Ellie. How fun.  
  
Charlie walked in the class with plenty of time to spare. He sat down next to Adam Banks and let out his breath.  
  
"Sorry I didn't get to say anything this morning, Banksie. Been busy." Charlie said to his friend.  
  
"No problem. So you're showing Ellie around?" Adam asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Yeah, she's really nice. I found out she's from Texas, she's never played hockey, she's never been on the ice for more than five minutes, she's known Dwayne for years and I'm teaching her how to ice skate." Charlie said, setting his book under his desk and placing a pencil on his desk.  
  
"Wow. What did you do all period? Drill her down with questions?" Adam asked surprised that after knowing this girl for one class period Charlie had managed to figure all that out.  
  
"No, actually that's what we did on the way to her next class." Charlie replied with a grin.  
  
"Same thing. And what's this about skating lessons?" Adam asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Yeah, she doesn't know how so I figured I could make some time and teach her." Charlie replied as the teacher walked out the front of the room.  
  
"Well that's very noble of you Conway, but what about Linda? Don't you think she'll be upset when she finds out you're spending a lot of time with another girl?" Adam pointed out.  
  
"I guess I never thought of that. But I'm sure she won't mind. I mean come on; I'm just doing Ellie a favor. It's not like a date or anything. I'm just trying to help her out." Charlie said defensively.  
  
He had managed to convince himself that he was NOT cheating on Linda by doing this. It's just like playing hockey with Julie and Connie. If that wasn't cheating on Linda, how was this?  
  
"Whatever you say Spaz." Adam said skeptically as he turned his attention to the teacher's lecture before saying again under his breath, "Whatever you say." 


	3. Duck Tales

Wow...I'm...loved!!!! LOL...oh, and sorry I posted the Prologue instead of this and I couln't delete it...but here's the REAL Chapter 2...VERY sorry for the inconvenience!  
  
Natasha Hyatt- Thank you! Yes, I noticed they do that. But I mean at the end of the movie, he was with Linda and so I figure the next day he wouldn't dump the girl he tried so hard to get. I'm not saying he won't but I figured at least at the beginning he would still like her. I'm glad you're enjoying my story!  
  
Joshrox116- Aw, nice as always. ^_^ Glad you liked.  
  
Jen- LOL...yes, I know how ya feel about Linda...okay, I feel incredibly stupid...wanna know why? I'M FROM TEXAS AND I FORGOT ABOUT THE LOVEABLE DALLAS STARS!! Lol, it isn't that I didn't know, it's just I had just watch the first one when the Stars were still in Minnesota and hadn't gone to Dallas yet...TEXAS RULES THOUGH! I'll be sure to fix that though...*blushes* No, I'm not a blonde...*looks around nervously* Hehehe...okay, so I am...anyway, thank for reviewing!  
  
Just as a warning, a pretty good part of this chapter is telling Ellie about the Ducks. So basically, it's a few paragraphs of reviewing the movies. You can skim over that part or you can read it. I added funny parts in there though so you may wanna read it. ^_^  
  
Disclaimer- Nope, still don't own MD...wish I did though...  
  
-Chapter 2-  
  
Charlie stared at the ceiling; his chin resting in one hand propped up on his elbow, and tapped his pencil on his desk repeatedly with the other. Adam shot him looks, trying to send the message that screamed 'cut it out!'.  
  
But Charlie wasn't in Room 203. He was in his own little world. A little world in which History had no existence therefore he didn't have to study it.  
  
"Mr. Conway? Would you like to read the next paragraph?"  
  
Charlie's head snapped straight and his eyes refocused. "Uh."  
  
"That's what I thought. I think paying attention would do you good Charlie. I know there's other places you'd rather be and this isn't probably your first choice but if you like your place on the hockey team, I suggest you listen. It's hard to pass when you don't know the answers." Mr. Mabry said, narrowing his eyes seriously.  
  
Charlie nodded, eyes wide. He really needed to keep his mind on his work. He didn't want to be kicked off the hockey team for bad grades. He would die.  
  
"And in case you were wondering, we are on page 308, third paragraph." Mr. Mabry said.  
  
"Th-thank you sir." Charlie said, blushing and grabbing the History book out from under his desk.  
  
"Now Katie, would you mind reading the next paragraph?" Mr. Mabry asked moving on with class as if nothing ever happened.  
  
"Smooth, Spazway." Adam said sarcastically.  
  
"Shut up Cake-Eater!" Charlie replied in playful banter. It was commonplace for them to exchange insults amongst themselves and this was no different.  
  
Adam grinned at Charlie before going back to reading the book with the rest of the class.  
  
The rest of the class was uneventful. Charlie left early like he had before and began his trek to the Choir room. It was required to have one Fine Arts credit to graduate but he, as with most of the Ducks, decided to wait until their Senior year to do it. He couldn't imagine why she would want to do it her first year when she could wait.  
  
Soon enough he was standing in front of the large double doors. Double doors intimidated him. But he took in a breath and knocked. Getting no answer, he quietly opened the door to take a peek.  
  
And boy did he get a surprise.  
  
He heard the clear voice of a Soprano piercing through the air. As he leaned in farther, he saw Ellie standing out in the middle of the room, eyes closed, belting it out. It appeared she was auditioning for the teacher.  
  
As soon as she finished, she slowly opened her eyes and cowered away slightly, as if afraid someone would lash out.  
  
The Choir teacher as well as the rest of the class applauded her loudly. Her face turned beat red as she looked at the floor, an embarrassed smile taking over her face.  
  
"That was beautiful Ellie! Absolutely beautiful! I may have to see if there's any more room in Varsity for you. You definitely deserve it! You may sit back down if you'd like. I'll go check my classes." The Choir teacher said, beaming.  
  
Charlie just stood at the door, jaw open slightly, staring at her. He couldn't believe she had such a beautiful voice...maybe THAT'S why she was in Choir Freshman year...because she was so freakin' good!  
  
Eventually someone pointed out to Ellie that there was a guy standing at the door, slack-jawed and staring at them.  
  
She looked up and blushed. Had he heard her?  
  
"Hey Charlie." She said, containing her blush.  
  
"H-hi Ellie. W-wow...where'd you learn to sing like that? You're really good! REALLY good!" Charlie asked, finally starting to get over his shock. He also started walking towards her.  
  
She really blushed that time. "I, uh. I don't know. I guess. I don't know. I guess I never really thought I'm that good. I just like singing." She said, turning a brighter red.  
  
"Aw, she's just being modest! Who are you?" a girl with short, bouncy brown hair and green eyes asked.  
  
"Obviously...huh? Oh, I'm Charlie. I'm showing her around this week. You know, to get her used to Eden Hall and everything." Charlie replied, finally managing to get fully coherent sentences out without repeating himself.  
  
"I see. You have Laker, don't you?" the girl said.  
  
Charlie and Ellie nodded.  
  
The girl pursed her lips tightly before saying, "Yeah, I had her last year. Hey, Charlie isn't it? You look familiar. Where have I seen you?" the girl said, obviously trying to place name with face.  
  
"I don't know. I'm Captain of the hockey team so unless you follow that, I don't really know." Charlie said, trying to see if she looked familiar. No dice...  
  
"Oh yeah! NOW I remember you! You're that kid who gave "horse turd brownies" to the Varsity Hockey Team at lunch that one time. That was hilarious!" the girl said, grinning at the memory.  
  
"Heh, oh yeah. What can I say, I'm brilliant." Charlie said, laughing at the memory as well. They had gotten them SO bad!  
  
"Eh?" Ellie said, thoroughly confused.  
  
"I'll tell you later. But we should probably go. Lunch is next and I wanna make sure I take advantage of this "leave class early" thing. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Charlie said jokingly as he and Ellie headed for the door.  
  
"I'd have to agree with you. Bye Miss Keller!" Ellie shouted to her Choir teacher as she left. The teacher waved goodbye before turning back to the papers on her desk.  
  
Charlie then began leading her to the lunchroom.  
  
"Now, about the horse turd thing?" she said, grinning and cocking an eyebrow.  
  
"Heh, okay, when we first got here at Eden Hall, we were automatically hated by the Varsity Team because well, we were JV. So they grabbed Kenny and stole his lunch so me, Fulton and Russ went out the next day and got some horse turd, put it in a paper bag and when we walked by at lunch, he grabbed it. I said something along the lines of "Oh no, but my mommy made me brownies!" so he stuck his hand in and looked at it funny. Then I said "I guess I should tell her to stopping using horse turds in the recipe" and they chased us for a long time. But our smoothness got us out okay." Charlie explained with a laugh.  
  
By the time he had finished, Ellie was laughing her head off. "That's hilarious. But hey, they deserved it. You guys are brutal!"  
  
"We do what we must." Charlie said suavely and Ellie laughed again.  
  
"So tell me about the Ducks." Ellie said, interested in the hockey team Charlie apparently adored.  
  
"You wanna know about us Ducks? Okay, I can do that. Where should I start?" Charlie asked.  
  
"The beginning preferably."  
  
"Ha ha. Very funny. Well, I guess it started one day when we were still D- 5. We were out on the ice, playing around. We were goofing off when all of a sudden, a black limo pulled out onto the ice and a very professional man in a suit stepped out. Jesse thought he was a drug dealer so he told him to get lost or we would pull out his eyeballs and use them as hockey pucks. It was then that we found out he was our new hockey coach. I believe his exact words were 'I hate hockey and I don't like kids'. Wonderful start me and Bombay had...we didn't believe him but then he started calling out our names. Freaked us out. Well, he told us to show him what we could do and he found out we well, weren't all that great. So he yelled at us and got back in his car. So we attacked his car. Not pretty. Then we got in, kids yelling, screaming, talking on his phone, eating the driver's candy, utter chaos. Then we demanded a ride and he gave in. Then my mom came and ruined our fun. Screamed at Coach real bad. Well then life went on, he made us better, Fulton joined. After all this great fun, we found out Coach used to be a Hawk, our sworn enemies. So we had a problem, Coach started I guess un- officially dating my mom, and eventually Banksie joined in on the fun and we beat the Hawks and we all lived happily ever after. Coach went out for Minor League and life was good. Then he got hurt so he had to come back. It being a year after we had beat the Hawks, thre of them tried to trip us as we went to meet up with the other Ducks and Coach Bombay. But then Fulton beat'm up and tied them to a tree with their pants pulled down." Charlie started.  
  
Ellie bursts out laughing.  
  
"What?" he said with a confused look on his face, pausing from his story.  
  
"You guys are PRANK FIENDS aren't you? I'm glad to be on YOUR side..." she said, trying to stop from laughing.  
  
Charlie gave her a warm smile. They were pretty horrible, weren't they? Oh well, they took it in stride...now back to his story...  
  
"Anyway...oh yeah, he told us we would be Team USA. So we were all excited and blah blah...so moving on to the Junior Goodwill Games. That's where we met Julie, Luis, Russ, Kenny, Portman and Dwayne. Russ actually joined us halfway into the games but that's how we met them. We competed and Bombay taught us how to work together and all that jazz. We were beating everyone into the ice until we encountered Iceland. Which by the way, I've never quite understood why they're ICELAND and not GREENLAND! I mean, c'mon, Iceland doesn't even have ICE! It's GREEN! And GREENLAND isn't GREEN! It's covered with ICE! It's so confusing. I think the people who discovered those two countries were either very confused or they got their papers mixed up somewhere along the way. Oh, sorry, I'm getting off topic here. Back to my story..." Charlie said with a grin. That earned him another laugh from Ellie.  
  
"Well, they pulverized us so Coach Bombay turned into Captain Blood and worked us into insanity. That's actually when we met Russ. He had been harassing us from the sidelines telling us we stunk, basically. So when we met up outside the rink, he and his friends helped us out and stuff. Then we found out Banksie had hurt his wrist so he was out. Taking matters into my own hands, I recruited Russ to join us in the games and Coach agreed. SO we had ourselves another player. He was fitting in well and life was good until our last game when Banskie's wrist got better. But we couldn't let him back in because there was no room. Russ was about to give up his spot but I had invited him in, I wans't going to let him quit. We needed him. So I gave Adam my spot on the team and helped Bombay coach from the bench-" Charlie said, recalling the memories as they came.  
  
"That was awfully nice of you." She said with an approving smile.  
  
Charlie's face heated up so he looked forward to continue his story. Not good...not good...  
  
"Anyway, we were having a tough time but as always, we pulled through. Bombay and Jan gave us our Duck jerseys so we came out of the second period as Team USA, and entered the third as the Ducks. So they played "We Will Rock You" but everyone was screaming, "We Will, We Will Quack You." It was pretty cool. We all quacked and won the game, life was once again good. Banks gave me the USA flag and we skated around waving it around like idiots. It was a lot of fun. Then after we camped and sang "We Are the Champions". It was so much fun. Awesome year. Then we got scholarships to Eden Hall, here, and that's about it." He finished.  
  
"Cool stuff! Tell me about those pranks you mentioned a while ago. It seems it didn't stop at the 'horse turd brownies'." Ellie said, her face lightened with a broad smile.  
  
"Nope, it never stops...but it all began when Kenny walked by the Varsity and as I said, they took his lunch so we gave them brownies as payback. They didn't like that so when we were at practice, they put our clothes in the shower and wrote "Freshman Stink" on the wall. So we got them back by freezing their jackets with liquid nitrogen and writing "Varsity Sucks Ice" on the wall. They didn't like THAT so they invited us to dinner. Sure, that doesn't seem to bad but it was really expensive. They said they'd pay and it was tradition. Even BANKSIE said it was safe. So we went with them. They pretended to be our friend and like they cared. Someone had seen them with a cake so we thought hey, maybe they are nice guys! Then when it got there, we read the words on it and it said "Thanks for dinner losers!". We were so mad...we felt so stupid. Then the waiter gave us the bill and it was more money than we had...of course...so we got stuck washing dishes and cleaning to pay for dinner. Then we decided it was war. So then we did our big prank. In the middle of the night, we snuck in and got some of those Brazilian fire ants from the ant farm the school had. When I had asked if anyone would notice their absence, they said they doubted anyone kept a head count. Guy and Connie kept watch for any people who could get in the way while we worked out magic. When they spotted one of the Varsity members, they sent Dwayne to rope'm up. He chased after him on a horse and hog-tied him." Charlie said grinning.  
  
Ellie had to stop to keep from falling down in laughter. "Dw-Dwayne d-did that?" she said in between giggles.  
  
"Yep. Cracked us up. He's definitely an asset to the team." Charlie said with a wide grin.  
  
"I bet. That's funny. Okay, y-you can finish your story now." She said, her eyes gleaming.  
  
"Okay, I can deal with that. We got tubes and distributed them amongst Varsity dorms and let the ants go. We had tied all the doors together so they couldn't get out. When we finally got out, they were trying to get the ants off so after we had properly pointed and laughed, we ran. The next day they looked like goalies for a dart board game!" Charlie finished with another laugh.  
  
They had arrived at the lunchroom. Ellie was nearly doubling over in laughter as they approached the table they had dubbed the Ducks table.  
  
A few Ducks were already seated and gave them funny looks.  
  
"Sorry, I was just telling El about our adventures over the years. Pranks, Hawks, Team USA, all that good stuff." Charlie explained as he sat down in between two empty seats.  
  
Ellie sat in between Charlie and Dwayne. She immediately asked Dwayne about the roping a Varsity member and got laughs form the rest of the team.  
  
"Yup! It was fun!" Dwayne said with a grin.  
  
"Ellie said Texas didn't have a Hockey team, didn't the Stars move there awhile back?" Charlie asked Dwayne.  
  
"Yep they did. Ellie, shame on you! How could you miss something like that?" Dwayne said with shock.  
  
"Sorry Dwayne, I'm not known for my observant-ness. I guess I was living under a rock at the time." She said with an embarrassed grin.  
  
"It's okay little El, it ain't your fault." Dwayne said with his normal Texas accent, patting her shoulder comfortingly.  
  
The rest of the table laughed good-naturedly. Ellie smiled too. She liked these people. They all seemed nice enough, even if they would tease her about the whole Stars thing. It wasn't HER fault she didn't keep up with sports! Okay, so it was but that isn't the point! It never is.  
  
"I see you made a friend." Guy said to Charlie, motioning to Ellie.  
  
"Yeah, she's really cool." Charlie replied.  
  
Linda looked over from her place in the doorway. She had seen Charlie enter the lunchroom, laughing with another girl...who WAS that girl and why was she with Charlie? 


	4. Meeting Linda

Soccerbaby- *takes a bow and says in a HORRIBLE Elvis impression* Thank you, thank you very much! Lol...I'm glad you think so. I don't want to give away anything but I'm planning on making Charlie and Ellie end up together. I just need to draw it out for a ridiculously long time...lol...but we can't avoid the inevitable. ^_^ Sure, I will be sure to incorporate some Julie and Adam JUST FOR YOU! A little in this chapter even! ^_^ Don't you feel special? ^_^  
  
Joshrox116- Glad you like! AHA! I have you in suspense...you shall find out Linda's reaction in this chapter.  
  
Rodeo Princess- Thanks...and just for future reference, this will be Charlie/OC, I just gotta build up the plot some. ^_^ Linda will definitely have some heartbreak...how could she not? Her man is in LOVE with another girl! HAHA! Or, at least he will be...soon...lol...^_^ thanks for reviewing! ^_~  
  
Okay, so Charlie is slightly clueless at the beginning of this but work with me people! And I said they're in Chemistry for their science course because that's the first thing that came to mind. If they're not, just pretend they are. Okie dokie? ^_^  
  
Disclaimer- Do I LOOK like I own Mighty Ducks? Oh, you can't see me? Hm, that could pose as a problem. Gee, thanks for ruining my fun...but just for the record, I don't own The Mighty Ducks...yet...*evil smile* lol...  
  
-Chapter 3-  
  
Linda took in a deep breath and walked confidently over to her boyfriend's table. New girl or no new girl, that wasn't going to keep her away from her Charlie.  
  
She took her seat in the empty seat next to Charlie. She kissed his cheek to get his attention.  
  
"Hi Charlie." She said with a smile.  
  
"Hey Linda." Charlie said, not even turning to her. He was in the middle of an important debate over which was better, Macaroni and Cheese or Ravioli. So far Macaroni and Cheese was winning.  
  
She wrinkled her nose and cleared her throat.  
  
Charlie then got the picture. She wanted his ATTENTION! So THAT'S why she said hi. What a concept.  
  
He then turned to greet her. "Hey Linda."  
  
She smiled. Much better.  
  
The rest of the team greeted her briefly before re-engaging in their heated debate.  
  
Charlie smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "How has your day been?" he asked.  
  
"Good. Yours?" she asked Charlie, sneaking a glance at Ellie. She didn't look too threatening. But you could never tell with some people. And besides, she WAS walking with Charlie...  
  
Linda tried to keep the spite out of her eyes when she locked them with Ellie. Ellie gave her a nervous smile. That girl looked intimidating.  
  
Linda didn't even hear Charlie's oblivious "My day's been..." due to the fact she was glaring holes into Ellie forehead.  
  
Once Charlie had finished his reply, he noticed Linda wasn't even paying attention. When he followed her glare to Ellie, he realized what was going on. Or so he thought.  
  
"Oh, sorry Linda. I feel so stupid. This is Ellie. Linda, Ellie. Ellie, Linda. She's in several of my classes and I'm showing her around. She's a friend of Dwayne's from Texas. She's really nice. I'm sure you'll...um, Linda? Are you listening to me?" Charlie asked when he realized her heated gaze was still on Ellie.  
  
"Yes, I am. Hello Ellie." Linda said, still looking suspiciously at Ellie.  
  
Ellie tried to give a smile but it came out as more of a grimace. "Hello Linda."  
  
Charlie just looked between them a few times with a confused face. What was their deal? He then just shrugged and poked at his Macaroni and Cheese. He was on the Mac-N-Cheese side but this stuff the cafeteria gave them was NOT Mac-N-Cheese...it was...he didn't even want to THINK of what it could be...  
  
It was a disgrace to all Mac-N-Cheese everywhere! THAT'S WHAT IT WAS!!!!  
  
Adam just shook his head. He knew this would happen but NO, no one listened to Adam...no one EVER listens to Adam...  
  
Ellie stared at Linda's glaring face.  
  
CHARLIE HAD A GIRLFRIEND?!  
  
Figures...  
  
Why wouldn't he? He's everything she could have possibly asked for. He was cute, nice, sweet, polite...well, most of the time. Okay, so we'll stick to cute nice and sweet. He was a leader, something she DEFINITELY was not, and he had an overall nice personality.  
  
And did she mention he was REALLY cute?  
  
She just let out a sigh and broke the staring contest with Linda. She couldn't compete with Linda. Linda WAS his girlfriend after all so she had to have at least SOMETHING nice about her.  
  
Yes, she was pretty but that couldn't be it. Charlie didn't seem like the kind of guy who would choose his girlfriend based on looks. He didn't seem that shallow.  
  
So there had to be SOME WAY she was attractive by way of personality, not just by physical appearance.  
  
Ellie was just having a hard time THINKING of that way at the time...  
  
Soon enough she was snapped out of her thoughts by Charlie asking her if she was still in there. From the look on Linda's face, she had gotten a similar awakening.  
  
"Uh, yeah. Sorry. Just spaced off for a second." Ellie mumbled, turning a light shade of pink before turning the other way.  
  
"I bet you were thinking of-" Dwayne started.  
  
"SHUTTUP!" she yelled as she flung an apple at his head.  
  
Dwayne fell out of his seat on impact. He sat up on the floor, grabbed the apple and took a bite. "Gee Ellie, you don't have to get all riled up on me. I was jus' kidding. And you didn't even know what I was gonna say." Dwayne said as he got back in his seat.  
  
Everyone else stifled a laugh as Ellie turned bright shades of red.  
  
Then it connected in Dwayne's mind and he grinned mischievously at Ellie. "Hehehe...I think I know what you was thinkin'. And I think I know why you threw that apple at me. But don't worry, I wont' tell nobody. Your secret's safe with me."  
  
Everyone looked confused for a second. How was it that DWAYNE, of all people, knew something before THEY did? It was unheard of!  
  
Ellie just glared at him, knowing full and well that Dwayne wasn't bluffing. He'd known her for too long to not know the reason behind her violent outburst. Man, life stunk.  
  
Ellie took a deep breath and turned to talk to Charlie.  
  
"So, anyway-" Ellie started, trying to bring normal conversation back.  
  
Linda then abruptly stood up and grabbed Charlie's arm. "Me and my BOYFRIEND need to have a TALK!"  
  
Charlie just blinked and said to Ellie, "Sorry, be right back."  
  
They all just looked at him with sympathy and humor.  
  
When Linda figured they were out of earshot, she started talking. "Charlie, what's going on here?"  
  
Charlie furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"  
  
"What's with the other girl? Don't think I didn't see you two walking in here, laughing!" Linda said angrily, glaring back and forth between Charlie and Ellie.  
  
When she got his confused look in reply, she continued. "I'm your girlfriend! Not her!"  
  
"I never said she was! And I know you're my girlfriend, I pestered you about for the longest time." He grinned and her look softened slightly. That WAS true...  
  
"But why Ellie? You don't get mad about Julie and Connie." He continued.  
  
"Julie and Connie are on your hockey team, that's a totally different thing! You're with HER because you want to be!" Linda said, her glare returning.  
  
"Linda, don't do this. I'm friend with Connie and Julie by choice too but just because I have friends that are girls doesn't mean they are my girlfriends and that I'm cheating on you. Linda, please try to understand." Charlie said, not believing they were having this conversation.  
  
"But still! I don't trust her!" Linda said, crossing her arms across her chest.  
  
"What do you mean? C'mon Linda, I'm just showing her around. She's not going to steal me away from you. We're just friends. And you know Mrs. Laker, she insists on this kind of stuff and I REALLY need a B in that class!" Charlie said. English class was NOT his forte.  
  
"Hmph, okay. I guess I can kind of understand..." Linda said, started to calm a little.  
  
"Just try to like her okay? For me? She's my friend now and I want you two to get along." Charlie pleaded.  
  
Linda thought about this. She let out a sigh. "How about we get along even only while you're looking?" she compromised.  
  
"Is that the best I'm going to get?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.  
  
When she gave him a crisp nod, he rolled his eyes playfully and kissed her forehead. "Then I guess that will have to do, won't it?"  
  
As they walked back to the table, Russ said, "I wonder what they said. Linda doesn't look so much like a serial killer so I'm guessing it went well."  
  
Everyone else agreed.  
  
Ellie had been watching them intently. She hadn't been able to hear the exact words but by their faces and the occasional looking at her, she could tell it was probably her fault. As much as she liked Charlie, she didn't want to cause problems between him and his girlfriend. Besides, she was still pretty mad that he had FORGOTTEN to mention having a girlfriend...  
  
They sat down calmly as if nothing had ever been wrong. Charlie continued poking at his Mac-N-Cheese, complaining it was an insult to all Mac-N- Cheese around the world.  
  
Ellie laughed. She did really like him. Even if he could only be a good friend, she would enjoy it. Besides, he WAS teaching her how to ice skate...maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.  
  
Lunch went on without more conflict. Linda restrained her glares and Ellie kept to herself. Charlie poked at his Macaroni and Cheese and everyone else...well, ate I guess.  
  
As they were leaving the lunchroom at the well, end of lunch, Adam wrapped his left arm around Julie's thin shoulders and said, "I'm glad WE don't have that problem..."  
  
Julie just smiled, nodded, and leaned into his chest. "Me too. We don't need three Charlies...one is enough." She said with a grin.  
  
"I second that." He said as he planted a kiss on her forehead and quickened his pace to catch up with the rest of the group. Julie followed in suite.  
  
As they caught up with the rest of the group, they saw that Charlie was once again being manhandled. Linda was gripping his arm possessively and Ellie was trying to reason with her. Trying to convince her she wasn't out to steal anyone's boyfriend.  
  
Adam didn't remember Linda being such a nut case. Wasn't it HER who didn't want to be with CHARLIE in the first place? He would never understand girls...  
  
Adam only had two words for this situation.  
  
Poor. Charlie.  
  
But while he, being Charlie's best friend, felt for him, he couldn't help but fight off the urge to say 'I told ya so.' He couldn't wait until Linda found out about the ice-skating lessons...she would REALLY get a KICK out of that...  
  
Okay, so he could. He could wait a LONG time for her to find out. She would probably kill Charlie for even THINKING of spending extended amounts of time with any other girl. It wasn't that he didn't think Linda had the right to be like that; it was just that poor Charlie was probably overwhelmed.  
  
Dwayne grabbed Ellie by the shoulders when her eye twitched and she started making funny faces that naturally happen when she got frustrated.  
  
"CHILL OUT!" Ellie nearly yelled.  
  
Charlie cringed as Linda let go of his arm to walk behind him to Ellie. Uh oh...not good...  
  
"Chill out? CHILL OUT?! YOU WANT ME TO CHILL OUT?!?!" Linda nearly yelled.  
  
People in the hall stopped to watch. Linda wasn't the most widely known person in Eden Hall but the people who did know her or recognize her knew her to be calm, collected and non-violent.  
  
"That would be the desired reaction. But it kind of seems like that's not gonna happen." Ellie said, backing away a bit. This girl was starting to scare her. Any signs of annoyance had slipped away at this point. She didn't want to get into a fight.  
  
Just as Linda was about to retort, Charlie pursed his lips, closed his eyes and said sternly as if to a small child, "Linda..."  
  
She turned her frustrated glance to him. When he returned the glare, she let out a sigh and reluctantly folded her arms as if to end the fight...for now.  
  
"That's better. Now what class is next..." Charlie said, looking at Ellie's schedule to see if it was with him.  
  
Linda rolled her eyes. This wasn't going her way. And it made her mad.  
  
Ellie folded her arms to her chest too. She was intimidated yet she was upset too. Sure Linda was Charlie's girlfriend but the girl acted like she OWNED Charlie...at least they had the common courtesy not to exchange saliva in front of her. She couldn't say the same for most people.  
  
Yes, she liked these people. Sure they had their couples. But none of which had particularly grossed her out. There were Guy and Connie. Adam and Julie. Charlie and Linda. None of which really irked her...well, Linda did but she figured that was probably because Linda had Charlie. Yeah, that will do it. That is just ASKIN' for the irkin'...  
  
Ellie sighed, tried a friendly smile at Linda, and looked over to see her schedule in Charlie's hands.  
  
Note the word: Tried.  
  
It really looked more like a pained face but that's okay, Linda did the same thing. They had a truce while Charlie was around. She could live with that.  
  
"So Charlie, what class do you have next?" she asked as she playfully stole her schedule from him.  
  
"I have...um, Chemistry I think..." he answered, trying to remember for sure.  
  
"It appears as if I do too. Cool stuff." She said with a grin, folding up the schedule and putting it in her pocket.  
  
"Well I guess I'll see you later Linda." Charlie said as they arrived at Linda's next class. It was on the way to Chemistry so Charlie figured that if they went with her, she wouldn't kill him.  
  
"Bye Charlie." Linda said as she waved goodbye and gave Ellie an unreadable look.  
  
Ellie returned it and walked with Charlie to the next class. Man she hated Linda...no, didn't HATE anyone. She STRONGLY DISLIKED Linda. Yes. That was it. Hate was a strong word...strong dislike is a much better way of describing it.  
  
Oh this would be interesting. VERY interesting... 


	5. Hockey Practice

Zuke-san- AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! ZUKEY!!!!! Long time no um...communicate-o! ^_^ You found me, eh little man? Yes, Mighty Ducks is my thing now. CHARLIE ROCKS MY SOCKS OFF!!!! If you haven't noticed...^_^ *gasp* How could you forget about the greatness that is the Mighty Ducks? *sigh* You are hopeless...lol. *grins* Thank you though Zukey. I can always count on you to dig me out of the hole that is the other Fanfics and review my stories. Ego boosts are always good. *cheeky grin* Anyway, if you have a flare for drama (*cough* lol...) you can read my other MD fic...but again, thank you BUNCHES for readin' my fic. *wipes away tears of joy* THANK YOU!!!!!  
  
Joshrox116- Wow, now that's an honor!!!!!! ^_^ Thank you, you're too kind! *smiles* thank you for reviewing yet another chapter! Love ya to death! ^_^  
  
Disclaimer- ...No...not yet...The Ducks still belong to Disney...  
  
-Chapter 4-  
  
Charlie sat at his desk, propping his head up on his hands. His eyes were drooping quickly and he knew he needed some inspiration to stay awake.  
  
'Just for a second...one...quick...second...*snore*' he thought to himself as his eyes closed and his head fell limp.  
  
Portman and Fulton looked in front of them. Charlie was asleep again. Bad news.  
  
Portman balled up his paper and threw it at Charlie's head. It wasn't like he had any use for it anyway...  
  
Charlie sat up startled. Looking up at the teacher, he noticed the teacher hadn't seen anything.  
  
The team Captain let out a sigh of relief and turned around to smile at the Bash Brothers in gratitude. He gave them a "thumbs up" sign and the Bash Brothers just grinned. It wasn't like they didn't enjoy throwing the paper ball at Charlie's head so everyone was happy in the end.  
  
He turned a sleepy face to a few rows in front of him.  
  
There she sat.  
  
She really WAS in a lot of his classes...it's a shame he had a girlfriend...  
  
Wait, where'd THAT come from?  
  
He loved Linda...  
  
Linda loved him...  
  
Linda was his girlfriend...  
  
He loved his girlfriend...  
  
Wait, didn't he say that already?  
  
Why was he having the feeling that he was in denial?  
  
Charlie shook his head when he realized where his thoughts were leading. This was bad news. The first thing he would do once he stepped foot out of this class would be to ask Linda out to a movie or dinner to hopefully rekindle any flame Ellie had managed to extinguish within her first day.  
  
Again, bad news...  
  
The teacher dismissed the two teens early as usual and they walked silently down the hall. Charlie and Ellie seemed more uncomfortable after lunch. Ellie was nervous about him having a girlfriend and Charlie was still kind of shaken up from the whole thing.  
  
School went on and soon enough they were leaving last period. The first thing Charlie did after walking out of the class had NOT been asking Linda out to dinner. Considering he left early and unless she was skipping, which he knew she was NOT, he couldn't have. So now was his chance.  
  
He walked up to Linda alone. His last period of the day had only been with Luis and even Luis knew better than to cross paths with them at the time. Women were his forte and he was aware when a girl was angry.  
  
Linda was angry.  
  
But at least Ellie wasn't there. That would have been bad news for Charlie. Linda didn't like Ellie. Ellie didn't like Linda...bad combination.  
  
"Linda?" Charlie said as he approached the girl. She was leaning up against her locker with a scowl on her face.  
  
As she turned to Charlie her look softened somewhat and her lip pouted slightly.  
  
"Yeah Charlie?" she asked, raising her eyebrows slightly.  
  
Charlie smiled slightly. The look of malice had left the building. Now was his chance to ask her when she isn't deciding whether or not it would be a good idea to take out her shoelaces and strangle him with them.  
  
"I wanted to know if you wanted to go out to dinner or something tonight. I know you've had a tough day with...well, I guess I wanted to know if you would be so kind as to join me for dinner." Charlie said with a grin, stopping when he realized he was about to ignite fire again. Luckily he covered it up good enough for her not to notice.  
  
She smiled. "I would love to. What time?" she asked, now in a better mood. In a Jeckel and Hyde kind of way...  
  
"How about, eight-ish?" he suggested.  
  
"Sure. Do you know where my house is?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, I'll pick you up around eight. See you then Linda!" Charlie said as he walked off, waving.  
  
"Wait, Charlie?" she called after him.  
  
He turned around toward her. "Yeah Linda?"  
  
"Could you walk me home?" she asked.  
  
He furrowed his eyebrows. "Sorry, I can't. I have hockey practice. I'm really sorry. But I will see you tonight." He said regretfully.  
  
"I see. Well, I guess I'll see you at eight." She said, frowning.  
  
Charlie nodded and briskly started walking to the ice rink.  
  
He met up with the other Ducks a few seconds later.  
  
"Hey Charlie, I see you got Linda calmed down. But she looks like she took a tough blow. What'd you say?" Russ said, watching the girl walk away dejectedly.  
  
"She asked me to walk her home but I can't because of practice. I'm sure she'll be okay though." Charlie said, not realizing Linda was really upset.  
  
"I guess man. Anyway, let's get to practice!" Russ said as the others agreed.  
  
As they were running to the locker rooms, Ellie walked up smiling.  
  
"Hey Charlie." She said good-naturedly.  
  
"Hey El. Look, I gotta get to practice." He said as he was about to walk off.  
  
She just smiled and followed him. She bounced along grinning like an idiot.  
  
Charlie cocked an eyebrow and turned to look at her before saying with a grin, "Can I help you?"  
  
She closed her eyes, smiled and nodded her head enthusiastically. She then opened her eyes again and grinned really big. "Do ya think I could watch you guys practice?" Ellie seemed a little more comfortable now that Linda wasn't there. Linda scared her a little.  
  
Charlie smiled and nodded. "Sure El, you can watch if you'd like. But before you bound in, you might want to check with Coach Orion so he knows you're there."  
  
She smiled and nodded again. The excitement was visible and she practically skipped after Charlie. She seemed like a totally different person. Gone was the shy, quiet Ellie and come has the hyper Ellie.  
  
God help them all.  
  
The two walked to the doors of the locker room. "We shall part now." He does a dramatic bow. "Go and tell Coach you are here. See you in a few Ellie." He said as he stepped into the guy's locker room to get changed into his gear.  
  
She nodded again for the billionth time that day and walked into the room where the rink was. She saw Coach Orion standing at the door leading to the ice. No one was on it at the time so he was just staring off into space.  
  
"Excuse me, are you Coach Orion?" she asked, timid again. He looked kind of scary. She had heard from Charlie how mean he could be.  
  
He nodded. "How may I help you?" the man asked.  
  
"Well, um, I wanted to now if I could watch them practice. Charlie said I should ask first." she said in a still-timid voice.  
  
He looked at her for a second, deciding she looked harmless enough. "Yes you may. But why?"  
  
"Well, I guess I've never really seen hockey in real life and I'd like to see Charlie and Dwayne play." She answered, starting to feel a little better. He didn't seem so bad once you started talking to him. He seemed decent enough. So why had Charlie made him sound like Satan incarnate before?  
  
"You can sit in the stands right here. It may not be overwhelmingly interesting but I'm sure you will enjoy it anyway." He said with a smile as the team walked out of the locker room.  
  
"Thank you sir!" she chirped as she walked over to sit on the stands.  
  
The team skated out on the ice, most without even noticing that Ellie was there and started a scrimmage. It was Charlie, "Bandanna Guy #1", "Bandanna Guy #2", "Red-Haired Guy", "Latino Guy" and "Goalie Guy" versus "Preppy Guy", "Blonde Guy", "Non-Goalie Girl", "Chinese Guy", "Black Guy", Dwayne, and "Goalie Girl".  
  
Okay, so she forgot their names...big deal...  
  
The two goalies went to their own respective goals as Charlie and "Preppy Guy" faced off.  
  
"Preppy Guy" knocked Charlie down and skated off with the puck. But Charlie got up and went after him. As Charlie dove at "Preppy Guy", "Preppy Guy" passed it to "Blonde Guy". From there the two "Bandanna Guys" slammed into "Blonde Guy" and knocked him down. They skated down the rink and passed it to Charlie as he shot it past "Goalie Girl".  
  
They did it again but this time Charlie knocked down "Preppy Guy". From there he skated down the rink and passed it to "Red-Haired Guy" who looked nervous and passed it to "Latino Guy". "Latino Guy" skated really fast down towards the goal and as he was about to shoot, he realized he couldn't stop so he, as well as the puck, went flying into poor "Goalie Girl".  
  
"Goalie Girl" looked really mad so she got really ready to stop the next one. In the next one, "Non-Goalie Girl" stole the puck and skated circles around one of the guys and shot it to "Chinese Guy". "Chinese Guy" did a fancy twist thing and shot it past "Goalie Guy", earning them their first point.  
  
This went on for quite awhile before Coach Orion blew his whistle. They did some other exercises before he dismissed them for the day.  
  
Ellie bounded from her place in the stands to meet up with everyone.  
  
"Hi!" she said perkily, running to them as they stepped off the ice.  
  
"Girl, lay off the crack." Portman said in response to her hyper attitude.  
  
Her smile faded slightly. "Huh?"  
  
"Don't listen to 'im, he's always mean." Dwayne said as he took off his skates.  
  
"Oh...why?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.  
  
"Don't worry about it. Portman cut it out." Charlie said as he proceeded to take off his skates as well.  
  
"Why should I? Huh? What'cha gonna do about it?" Portman said jokingly.  
  
Charlie rolled his eyes. "Just quit."  
  
Portman just shrugged and cocked an eyebrow at the Team Captain. "Whatever man, I was just joking. I don't see why you're so riled up but if you're gonna go all whacko on us..." he said as he walked to the locker room, followed by Fulton and Ken.  
  
Dwayne then noticed that Ellie had seen their practice. "Hey Nickie, did you like our practice?" he asked with a grin.  
  
She nodded enthusiastically. "Very much! You guys really ARE good!"  
  
Charlie grinned. By that time, everyone but those three had left for the locker room to get changed and get home.  
  
"This will probably sound dumb, but why do you call Ellie Nickie?" Charlie asked with confusion.  
  
Ellie and Dwayne grinned. "My middle name is Nichol so it's a kind of nickname. Get it, NICKname! Ha, I crack myself up!" She replied with a giggle.  
  
Charlie and Dwayne laughed. Ellie was a little weird. But it wasn't like they didn't know weird people. Weird people made the world go round.  
  
Charlie nodded in understanding, still smiling at her little joke. "I see. Well, I'm going to go get changed. C'mon Dwayne." He called back as he walked to the locker room.  
  
Before Dwayne turned to the locker room, he said, "It's good to see you again Ellie."  
  
She smiled. "It's good to see you too Dwaynie." She replied in a singsong voice.  
  
He frowned.  
  
"Oh yeah, sorry." She said, blushing slightly. He wasn't fond of her nickname for him but oh how she loved to say it. Dwaynie Dwaynie Dwaynie Dwaynie Dwaynie! Bugged the crud outta him.  
  
Dwayne smiled. He was glad to see her again. They had met at a camp and they stuck. The two lived in different cities that were fairly far away from each other but that didn't stop them. They exchanged email addresses and phone numbers and kept in contact. That was, until he moved to Minnesota to attend Eden Hall. He had been so wrapped up in hockey he had forgotten about Ellie, something he thought would never happen. He was just relieved he got to see her again.  
  
"It's okay. But I want you to be careful." He said seriously.  
  
"Huh?" she said, completely confused.  
  
"With Charlie. He's a great guy but he has a girlfriend as you've noticed. Just don't get too attached. I don't want you to get hurt. He doesn't always realize he's hurting someone. He's one of the most considerate of us all but that doesn't mean he isn't capable of breaking your heart." Dwayne said, as all playfulness faded and was replaced with brotherly concern.  
  
Ellie narrowed her eyes slightly, taken back by this. "What do you mean? You, you're going all Cameron-like on me! You aren't my brother you know!" she said a little too harshly.  
  
"I know Ellie, I know I'm not. I'm just trying to help." Dwayne said, visibly confused at why she was getting so defensive. He was just looking out for his best friend.  
  
"Well maybe you shouldn't. I'm a big girl Dwayne, I can take care of myself." She spat out, turning on her heels to walk away.  
  
Dwayne's face fell to one of hurt and desperation. "Ellie! Wait!" he said as she stormed off. Why was she so mad? What was he going to do?! He didn't want to lose his best friend! Why couldn't he have just kept his mouth shut and let her go on?  
  
Because she was his friend and he was concerned about her. He just hoped she would realize this.  
  
"Ellie. Be careful." He said quietly to himself as she stormed off angrily. He then started walking to the locker room, trying to hide the pain caused by watching his only best friend storm off, angry with him for trying to help. 


	6. Ellies ICEcapade

Joshrox116- Thanks for once again being my only reviewer! I really appreciate you! I can always count on you to cheer me up and get me inspired! Your feedback is ALWAYS appreciated! Thanks girl! ^_^  
  
I went ice skating yesterday and so yeah...some of the experiences Ellie will have will reflect my beautiful attempt at ice skating. IT'S HARDER THAN IT LOOKS MAN!!! But I only actually fell once! Yay me! ^_^ I was dreaming of Charlie and I lost my balance...^_^ My brother laughed at me...but he doesn't know WHY I fell...*innocent smile* If he did he make blow a heart valve...lol, he doesn't want me to be a "groupie". ^_^ too late. Anyway, I know several of the bands/singers might not have existed at the time but we're gonna say they did. I really have no clue but still, I thought I should say it anyway. ^_^ Oh, and I modeled her music interest pretty much after myself. *grins* I now permit you to start reading the chapter.  
  
Disclaimer- ...must we go through this every chapter?  
  
-Chapter 5-  
  
Ellie walked to a bench, tears forming in her eyes. How could Dwayne SAY something like that? Charlie was perfect, he would never hurt her...it wasn't his fault she was starting to like him...  
  
She sat down on the wooden bench and looked at the lake. It wasn't frozen over because despite how cold SHE thought it was, Mother Nature obviously disagreed.  
  
The native Texan had been relatively cold but not to the point of unbearable-ness. But for some reason, she started shivering uncontrollably.  
  
The words Dwayne had spoken to her hit her right in the heart because she knew it was true. She was gullible and her heart was easily broken. Charlie could very well have good intentions but how did she know? How could she?  
  
Her face wrinkled up slightly as her eyes glassed-over, the tears threatening to spill over. Why? Why did it have to be like this? Why was it that when she finally found the guy of her dreams, he had to have a girlfriend? She just didn't understand...  
  
She pulled her legs to her chest and laid her head on top of her knees. Wrapping her arms around her legs, she took a deep breath.  
  
She heard a faint voice calling from behind her. She figured it was probably Dwayne so she used the fact that they sounded far away to pretend she couldn't hear them.  
  
"Ellie!" the voice called again.  
  
Wait, that wasn't Dwayne's voice...that was...  
  
"Hey, I've been calling for you for the past five minutes. What's up?" Charlie said as he sat down next to her on the bench.  
  
Her eyes widened and cheeks pinkened. She was relieved her head was still on her knees or that could have been even more embarrassing. She wiped her tears away on her knees before turning to Charlie, hoping he didn't noticed any signs of crying. Her face was probably blotchy and ugly. Great...  
  
"Nothing." She said, her voice cracking slightly.  
  
Charlie's eyebrows furrowed. "Really? You look kind of upset. Anything you want to talk about?" he asked, genuinely concerned.  
  
"I don't really wanna talk about it. But thanks for asking." She said quietly. Her cheeks were burning by now.  
  
Charlie nodded. He mistook her blush for reddening caused by crying. He could tell she had been crying but if she didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't force her to.  
  
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Charlie struck up conversation. "Would a lesson in ice skating make you feel better?" he asked with a smile.  
  
Her face visibly brightened. He remembered!  
  
"S-sure." She stuttered in excitement, the argument with Dwayne leaving her mind momentarily.  
  
He could help but smile at her beaming face. His own mood seemed to lighten when she smiled. Just knowing he was the reason for that smile gave him this weird sensation of contentment.  
  
It was starting to scare him a little...  
  
He and Ellie stood up and started walking towards the public ice rink. It was too warm for the pond to be frozen over so the public ice rink would just have to work.  
  
"So, you've only skated once?" he asked to clarify.  
  
"Yep." She replied as she tied her ice skates on and watched all the people out on the rink.  
  
He nodded his head before putting on his own skates. He was using his own personal hockey skates and he rented Ellie some figure skates.  
  
Two reasons.  
  
Cheaper and less likely to fall.  
  
But mostly because they were cheaper.  
  
Not that he was a cheapskate or anything...  
  
He held her up as she tried to stand. Her eyes were clenched closed, terrified that she would fall.  
  
When Charlie let go of her waist, she stood there, frozen on the spot. When she timidly opened her eyes, she looked down at her feet. She was still standing.  
  
Taking a small step forward, she was amazed to see she hadn't fallen yet! Who cares that they weren't even on the ice yet! This wasn't so hard!  
  
And man did she eat those words...erm...thought...eh, never mind, you get the point.  
  
The second she stepped foot on the slippery ice, she went tumbling down.  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! CHARLIE! HELP!!!" she nearly screeched, as someone had to jump over her to keep from running her over.  
  
Charlie just shook his head and tried not to laugh. He skated over gracefully and offered her his hand.  
  
She looked up with a hint of hurt but accepted his hand anyway. Her hand hurt like you wouldn't believe. Who would have thought your hand could get so cold it burned?  
  
Charlie decided she couldn't be trusted on her own so he skated next to her, coaching her.  
  
Then he got an idea.  
  
"Ellie, have you ever roller bladed?" he asked.  
  
She looked at him like he was stupid. "Yeah, why?"  
  
He smiled. "Just think of ice skating as roller blading...on the ice."  
  
She thought about this and she rubbed her chin like the people in pictures do when they're thinking. "Okay." She chirped, finally coming to a decision.  
  
She moved one skate forward and started skating, pretending she was on her blades. She wobbled forward and her legs were slightly unstable but she was moving. Her skates were riding in the grooves made by other skaters so her feet were going in little squiggly lines.  
  
"Ah, I'm gonna fall!" she said, waving her arms around frantically as she leaned too far forward. The brakes on the front of her figure skates scraped on the ice, caught on a groove, and sent her sailing forward and into the wall headfirst.  
  
"Ellie!" Charlie yelled, his voice flooded with concern.  
  
He skated over to see if she was okay. She took quite a fall. She was struggling to stand back up, her face contorted with discouragement.  
  
The girl grabbed the side of the rink to pull herself up, her face one of concentration.  
  
Charlie smiled. At least she hadn't insisted to go home yet. From what she said, that was improvement.  
  
He offered her his arm for support and she accepted, moving her legs a little at a time. Her hands were burning and her knees hurt quite a bit but she was going to keep going. SHE WOULD LEARN HOW TO ICE SKATE!!!!!!  
  
Once she was comfortable with the ice again, she started to speed up. She sincerely hoped no one got in her way because she still didn't know what she was doing, much less how to stop. There was NO WAY she would LEAN FORWARD to stop. After that little display, she would never lean forward on ice skates again...EVER!  
  
"Bend your knees Ellie!" Charlie coached as he skated by her side.  
  
"I'm trying!" she said as she wobbled forward. She flailed her arms and somehow regained what little balance she could muster.  
  
The Goo Goo Dolls's "Iris" played in the background as Ellie took yet another fall.  
  
She sat on her knees and listened. "Oooh I love this song!" she said happily as she started singing along.  
  
Charlie laughed at the site. "El, You might wanna stand up. You're gonna get run over." He said.  
  
"Oh yeah." She said, grinning sheepishly as she stood back up, again trying to stay balanced.  
  
"And I don't want the world to see me 'cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am." She sang along with the music.  
  
Charlie grinned at her. Even though she wasn't that great of a skater, she did have an awesome voice.  
  
As Charlie watched Ellie sing and skate at the same time, a funny thing at that, he tripped over someone and fell down.  
  
"S-sorry." He stuttered as he stood back up. Ellie had stopped to grin mischievously at him.  
  
"Ha ha! You fell too!" she giggled in a singsong voice.  
  
"Very funny!" he said with a grin as he stood up completely.  
  
He looked to see whom he had run into and found no one.  
  
Charlie shrugged his shoulders and continued skating with Ellie. She was getting better. She could now successfully multi-task by singing and skating at the same time. Or, at least sing and avoid falling down. But to Ellie, that was the same thing.  
  
"So, what kind of music do you like?' he asked, knowing that was safe territory.  
  
"All kinds I guess. I like a little bit of everything I guess." She replied neutrally.  
  
"Name some of your favorite bands." He replied, interested to see what this girl found worthy of her listening.  
  
"Um, I like Linkin Park, Green Day, Madonna, Three Doors Down, Creed, the entire Moulin Rouge Soundtrack, The All-American Rejects, Stacy Orrico, Eiffel 65, Avril Lavigne, Steven Curtis Chapmen...uh what else...oh yeah, I also like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lifehouse, Shania Twain, Newsboys, Dixie Chicks, Weird Al, P.O.D., Relient K-" she started.  
  
"I'm beginning to feel like that was a dumb question..." he said to himself with a grin as Ellie named off most likely any artist or group she had ever heard in her life.  
  
"-Queen, Goo Goo Dolls, MXPX, Pillar, Nine Days, Blink 182, Bowling For Soup, ZOEgirl, Bon Jovi, Good Charlotte, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Ewan McGregor even though he only sings in movies, Randy Travis, the song "Billy Jean" by Michael Jackson, Jessica Andrews, Cyndi Thomson, Chad Kroeger, Martina McBride, Evanescence, and last but not least, SUPERCHIC[K]!!!!!" she finished, gasping for breath. "I saved Superchic[k] for last because they're my favorite." She said with enthusiasm.  
  
"Wow...how do you remember all that?" he asked, eyes wide at all the things she listed off.  
  
She blinked as she thought this over. "I dunno. That's a good question..." she said, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion as she thought this over.  
  
He laughed. "That's some talent. But I have to admit some of those don't sound familiar. Whose Superchic[k]?" he asked, considering that's the only one he didn't recognize that he could remember from the string of bands/single artists listed.  
  
"Whose Superchic[k]? WHOSE SUPERCHIC[K]?! Only the BEST band in the WORLD!" she said dramatically, earning her funny looks from people around her.  
  
He laughed. She sure had warmed up to him quick. "Enlighten me." He said with a grin.  
  
"I think I will! Some time you will have to come be enlightened. But not today, I'm, in too much pain..." she said, gripping her hands and knees with mock-pain. She was actually starting to feel better about ice-skating but that didn't mean she wanted her 'lessons' to end. She was having the time of her life!  
  
"I see." He said with a laugh.  
  
He looked at his watch. They had been there for a few hours already. Ellie was starting to complain about how much her ankles hurt. His were just fine but he figured that was because he had been doing this whole life while she had only for a few hours.  
  
"You ready to go home yet?" he asked as she sat down on a bench, her face flushed with exhilaration.  
  
She shook her head no.  
  
He couldn't help but stare at her. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold. He was surprised to see the only make-up she wore was a light layer of lip gloss. Most girls decided that just because everyone else wore make-up, they should too. He debated whether to ask her about it or if it would seem rude.  
  
"Ellie?" he asked, sitting next to her. He only hoped she wouldn't take offense.  
  
"Uh huh?" she asked, her breathing finally slowing back down. She had improved a lot that day. She could skate pretty fast. Her legs weren't that stable and she claimed she couldn't skate slowly or she would topple over. But then she added she couldn't skate fast without toppling over either.  
  
"I noticed you don't were make-up. Any reason why?" he asked, entering un- charted territory.  
  
"Too much work. Besides, I heard it'll give you wrinkles." She said with a laugh. "But seriously, I guess I just prefer not to. Once you start, you feel like you're ugly without it. I guess would just rather stick to the natural thing." She finished, reluctantly playing with a string on her ice skates. "Why?"  
  
"Just curious. It's not common to find a girl who believes she can be pretty without make-up." He replied, not noticing the smile that spread across Ellie's face when he subtly admitted she was pretty.  
  
She couldn't help but grin. Sure he hadn't SAID it straight out but when you like someone, you tend to hear things differently. She had never been told she was pretty before. And parents don't count. Okay, so one guy had but HE doesn't count either because...he just DOESN'T!  
  
"I think I should probably take you home now." Charlie said, taking off his hockey skates.  
  
She put on a pouty face. "But Chaaaaaaaarliiieee!!!" she said in a whiny voice.  
  
He just smiled at her and shook his head. She returned the smile.  
  
"Sorry Ellie, I have a feeling your ankles can't take too much more." He said, referring to all the times she had subtly mentioned the state of her aching ankles.  
  
Letting out a sigh of defeat, she replied, "I guess so. But do you think we can do this again sometime?" she asked, raising her eyebrows and smiling.  
  
"Sure El, that would be absolutely wonderful." He said with a grin.  
  
Once he had put his skates in his backpack and had his tennis shoes on, he stood up. He offered her his arm and she accepted. "Shall we?" he said in a pretty bad British accent.  
  
"We shall." She said in an equally horrible British accent.  
  
They laughed at their sad attempts as they walked arm and arm out of the ice rink.  
  
The two bright-eyed teens walked down the sidewalk in a comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts.  
  
Soon enough they were standing on Ellie's doorstep, facing each other.  
  
"Well, I guess I should go on in. It was nice hanging out with you Charlie. It made my day." She said with a soft smile.  
  
He smiled back. "It was a pleasure being with you as well. See you again tomorrow?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.  
  
"Yes, I would love that." She replied, trying to calm the butterflies in her stomach.  
  
They just stood there, staring at each other. Blue eyes met blue eyes.  
  
He subconsciously reached out to grab her hand. At the physical contact, a jolt of electricity circulated through them.  
  
His hand flew away as their eyes changed from dazed to confused. They each looked at their hand before Charlie cleared his throat, still extremely confused as to what that was and WHY he had reached for her hand in the first please. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD HE HAD A GIRLFRIEND!  
  
"I-I'm sorry. I should probably go. S-see you later Ellie." Charlie said nervously as he nodded a farewell and turned to leave.  
  
"Bye Charlie." She sighed. She had felt it too. It was a nice sensation. Weird, but nice.  
  
She let one of those lovesick looks dominate her face as she walked into the house and up the stairs to her room in a daze.  
  
This had been the best day of her life... 


	7. Taking A Hike

Soccorbaby- As you should! ^_^ Thanks for reviewing chica! ^_~  
  
Liz- Ah, thank you! *slips 10 bucks into Liz's hand* Lol, just kidding. ^_^ *takes ten dollars back* HA! Lol...I'm okay...really...okay, starting from the beginning...Yes, I had to have Fulton hitting a car with his puck...it's just a given. Lol...*gasp* you caught me...I had to add in life experiences of mine in there too. ^_^ Thanks! Charlie and Banksie must have constant banter...okay, not CONSTAND but oh well. Yeah, Dwayne is cool! ^_^ He's in American Outlaws too! That's a wicked cool movie! Of course, it has Gregory Smith in it too so all it needs now is a hick Hayden Christensen and Joshua Jackson...and maybe Ewan McGregor just for kicks. ^_^ Lol...I don't' even know who Jordan is...yet...your gonna show me the pictures soon, right? I missed you at church. YOU WERE NAUGHTY! BAD, HEATHEN PIG-DOG SINNER! Lol...j/k! No one can stand Linda! She has to be a jerk-face! I know, Cam didn't care if you had "guy friends" and you didn't care if he had friends that were girls. But Linda has to be a butthead for the effect. ^_^ *eyes shift nervously and blushes* Umm...no? *nervous laugh* Of course not...just like I'm not totally in love with Gregory Smith...nope, no crushes here...*remembers "Revelation" song* Meh, okay...maybe...now you have to tell me YOUR crush! But you can't tell Cam. He'll roll his eyes at me. ^_^ Lol, I figured you would find my "distraction" funny...I thought about taking it out before you read it. Lol...^_^...but I didn't. Thanks for reviewing "sis"! Love ya to pieces!  
  
Joshrox116- Really? Me too! I'm sad people aren't reviewin' too! But I can always count on you! *gives Jochrox116 REALLY big hug* You're just so sweet! Thank you bunches and BUNCHES!  
  
Ashley- Yes, Dwayne majorly rocks yo! The dude doesn't get enough publicity. I'm a native Texan myself so yeah. Dwayne's cool. I'm glad you like it. Dwayne and Averman, they need some fans. Lol. I've gotten to the point where I just post it and hope for the best. I didn't think anyone would like it because no one likes, okay, I won't say NO ONE, but MOST PEOPLE don't like Original Characters right off the bat. But I won't lecture. ^_^ Sure that would be cool with me! I've never done a combined fic with anyone. Well, except Liz but she doesn't count because we haven't actually posted it or put into fic form. And thank you, I'm glad you enjoy my style. ^_^ And thanks for the support!  
  
Disclaimer- ...I only own Ellie and her family, nothing else...  
  
-Chapter 6-  
  
Ellie woke up when the sun poured in through her window once more. Rubbing her eyes, she tossed away the covers.  
  
"I'm not a morning person..." she muttered bitterly to no one in particular.  
  
Walking sleepily to her closet, she flung it open to see what clothes she would wear...  
  
She settled with a gray shirt, black hooded sweatshirt and some loose, flared blue jeans. She then slipped on her worn-down sneakers and let out a sigh.  
  
"I need new shoes..." she said with a grin, knowing that even though she NEEDED new ones, she would probably never wear them. But that wasn't the point. It never is.  
  
Glancing at her hair, she realized for once, her hair was behaving itself. Brushing it and running the slightest amount of calming gel through it to keep it that way, she smiled. For once she would leave it down...  
  
But that didn't means he wouldn't have her trusty scrunchie JUST IN CASE...  
  
Taking one last looks at herself, she grabbed her backpack and headed downstairs. She was supposed to meet up with Dwayne and the others that morning but she was still in rocky waters with Dwayne. It had been about a week since their 'disagreement' and she knew she should apologize...she just...couldn't.  
  
Things with Charlie had been great. He was still dating Linda but Ellie didn't mind. He gave her daily lessons after hockey practice. Too her knowledge Linda still didn't know.  
  
She figured this because Linda hadn't tried to strangle her with her own shoelaces yet...  
  
But both Charlie and Ellie had pretended the little 'moment' never happened. Or at least didn't talk about it.  
  
Ellie had been thinking and was going to ask her parents if she could stay in the Eden Hall dorms. All her friends were so she wanted to be close. Besides, they WERE free...  
  
She approached her parents. Her mom was reading some home improvement book and her dad was reading the newspaper, drinking his coffee every now and then.  
  
She wasn't used to her father being there in the mornings. He used to wake up at five every morning and drive for an hour to commute to work. Mr. King had been sad to leave his job of 13 years. Now he worked as tech support for another computer company, it's just now it 5 minutes away instead of an hour.  
  
"Momma? Daddy?" she said in a sickly sweet voice, putting on the best puppy dog look she could manage at the early hour of 7:00.  
  
"What do you want?" her father asked, his eyes never straying from the newspaper.  
  
She considered playing innocent but then she realized her parents wouldn't buy it and she was kind of in a rush.  
  
"Well...I was just wondering if I could stay in the dorms at the school." She said, cutting straight to the point.  
  
Both her parents looked at her. "Why would you want to do that?" her mom asked in a bewildered tone.  
  
"All my friends are and it IS free." She answered, trying to think of all the good reasons she should...and could find none her parents would sympathize with.  
  
"If all your friends jumped off of a building, would you?" her mom said in that tone all parents have.  
  
Ellie rolled her eyes. She hated that line. "Yes, I would!"  
  
The two parents looked at each other, confused.  
  
"Explain yourself!" her father said, his coffee stopping halfway to his mouth.  
  
"Well, I mean c'mon, as long as they jumped first, I would at least have some padding!" she said with an impish grin.  
  
The two adults just sighed and rolled their eyes. "That is not the point young lady. Why do you want to stay there anyway?"  
  
"To be with my friends. Come on, please?" she pleaded, putting on "the face" again.  
  
Her parents finally gave in.  
  
"Fine, you can." Her dad answered in a defeated tone.  
  
"Thank you thank you THANK YOU!!" she said, grinning ear to ear and hugging both of her parents.  
  
"Yeah, yeah...you better thank us...you know what, you are so spoiled." Her dad replied in only half-seriousness.  
  
She just grinned even bigger. "I know! I love you! Bye!" she said as she darted out the door.  
  
"And to think we bought this nice big house and she wants to live in dorms...crazy child..." her mom muttered.  
  
As Ellie was racing to make it to the corner in time, she saw them about to leave.  
  
"I'm here!" she shouted as she finally reached them.  
  
"It's about time. We don't have all day ya know." Fulton said, circling around on his roller blades. She realized they liked to roller blade to school. Too bad she had forgotten her blades this morning...  
  
She whacks him in the arm and of course, Connie and Julie congratulate her for growing a backbone while Averman got his two cents in.  
  
"Ow, and there goes the El-Meister beating up the Bash Broth-"  
  
"SHUTTUP AVERMAN!" everybody said in unison. Except for Ellie who still hadn't caught on yet.  
  
Averman just grinned sheepishly as they all prepared to leave. Charlie then realized Ellie was wearing normal shoes.  
  
He contemplated the results of his two choices. He could either A) Take off his blades and walk with her, or B) Not take off his blades and she walks by herself.  
  
Either way didn't seem to intriguing. He didn't want her to walk by herself but he knew Linda would be upset if he walked another girl to school alone. Then again, he had been doing a lot of things that would upset her lately, so why not add just one more?  
  
He sat down to take off his blades and replace them with sneakers of his own.  
  
"H-hey man, what do you think you're doing?" Russ said, clearly confused as to why Charlie was taking off his blades. They weren't THERE yet. They hadn't even STARTED yet.  
  
"I'll catch up to you." Charlie said as he stood up, his blades in his backpack and sneakers on his feet.  
  
He turned to give a small grin to Ellie who returned the favor.  
  
Russ cocked an eyebrow but decided not to say anything. "Whatever man. See you at school then." He said as he and the rest of the Ducks started down the hill.  
  
Adam turned back and saw Charlie talking about it with Ellie. Charlie was in deeper than he cared to admit. Someone was going to be hurt...he just didn't know who it would be.  
  
At the same time, Dwayne pursed his lips and silently told Ellie to be careful. He was still worried. It was happening just like he figured it would. He just hoped this didn't cause any barriers between him and Charlie.  
  
"You didn't have to stay ya know." Ellie said, still blushing.  
  
"I know." Charlie said with a smile. The two started walking down the street in silence.  
  
Charlie glanced at his watch, realizing they were already pretty late.  
  
"C'mon, we gotta speed it up! We're gonna be late!" he said playfully as he grabbed her wrist and broke into a sprint.  
  
She let out a scream as her legs were moving faster then she thought possible. Charlie sure was in shape...  
  
They of course had to dodge the occasional person but the mad dash was fairly uneventful.  
  
Charlie wasn't officially showing her around anymore so their free pass out of class early was now void. It royally stunk.  
  
After several apologies on Charlie's behalf for running over people and nearly getting hit by a car, Ellie and Charlie arrived at Eden Hall, out of breath.  
  
"That was...fun..." Ellie said, taking deep breaths, trying to calm her heartbeat.  
  
"Yeah. I second that." Charlie said with a grin. "We should do that again sometime." He said, getting his breath back.  
  
"No...we are NEVER doing that again..." she said, her breathing still irregular but a grin on her face.  
  
"What, did you not have fun dodging people and nearly becoming road kill? I would have never known." Charlie replied as they met back up with the other Ducks. They still had a few minutes before the doors opened.  
  
"Oh, of course I did Charlie. It's just SO much more fun dodging people and nearly becoming road kill while on roller blades, then it's harder to stop." She said, her voice dripping with playful sarcasm.  
  
"Hm, I'll have to remember that..." he said, playing along and looking like he was in deep thought.  
  
She smiled and laughed. "You're such a dork-face."  
  
He turned to her amused and raised his eyebrows. "What?"  
  
"Oh, I was just commenting on your dork-facey-ness." She said calmly, smiling sweetly.  
  
"Dork-facey-ness?" he said, holding in his laughter.  
  
She scrunched up her face. "Hey, are you insulting my insult?"  
  
"No, of course not. Why would I want to insult your insult?" He said, his eyes deceiving his thoughts on the humor of the situation. He was trying to remain serious.  
  
"Because you're mean, you dork-face! I'm insulted!" she said, her hand flying to her heart as she put on a face of mock-horror.  
  
"I'm sorry you're insulted for me insulting your insult." He said, now smiling broadly.  
  
She put on a face off deep thought before looking him full in the face. "Apology accepted." She said with a wide grin.  
  
Charlie shook his head, grinning. She was a weird one...  
  
They walked up to the rest of the Ducks and began talking. Linda was walking by and saw Charlie walking over to the Ducks with Ellie. She immediately became suspicious. What was SHE doing there?  
  
"Sorry we're late. Running on foot usually takes longer than roller blading. Remind me to remind Ellie to bring her skates next time. I don't know how much more of that I can handle." Charlie said with a playful grin.  
  
Ellie gave him a playful glare in return. "How rude..." she said back, crossing her arms in mock-offense.  
  
They all laughed and decided to walk on to class.  
  
Linda watched from afar as Charlie and Ellie exchanged playful banter. She felt jealousy swell up from inside her. She would NOT let some other girl steal her boyfriend. Charlie was HER boyfriend, not Ellie's!  
  
This meant war... 


	8. The Longest And Most Random Chapter EVER

YAY! My longest chapter EVER! Sorry, this chapter is kind of, well...strange...it's VERY random...or at least the Duck part it. I have NO clue what possessed me to write this. Lol...I don't own "A Midsummer Night's Dinner", NYgoldfish54 does. It's her story; I just borrowed a concept in there for a second. What does this have to do with the chapter? You'll just have to find out...and I admit, I didn't ASK to borrow the concept, I only hope I'm not burned at the stake! DON'T KILL ME NYGOLDFISH54!!!!!! If you're even reading this, that is...  
  
Joshrox116- Glad you liked it!  
  
Liz-Who-Didn't-Log-Out-Of-my-Screen-Name-When-She-Reviewed- Hey girlie! You didn't log out of my screenname...lol...it's looks like I reviewed my own story...Charlie is ALWAYS in SOME kind of trouble when I'm through with him...and even when I'm NOT! ^_^ Crush, what crush? Lol...no, afraid he's not in Texas...if he is, I'm SO GONNA GET AN AUTOGRAPH! Lol...well, Greg Smith and Joshua Jackson rock my socks off...but I guess now that I think about it, they probably don't count cuz yeah...so if they don't' count, I guess I don't...now one here is WORTHY! Hmph...lol...I figured you had a crush on Jordan and I KNEW ya were crushin' on Eric but yes, Eric IS taken...and YES! YOU *ARE* OLD!!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! Lol...thanks for reviewin'!  
  
That's all my rambling for now and again:  
  
WARNING: RANDOMNESS ALERT!!! Not to mention they get quite OOC, but that's okay too...  
  
Disclaimer- Nope, I don't own the Mighty Ducks.  
  
-Chapter 7-  
  
Ellie carried her heavy bags up the stairs. Both her parents were lugging boxes behind her. She had packed her whole room.  
  
And that was quite a bit.  
  
She scrambled for the key in her pocket. She stuffed it into the lock, turned it, and opened the door.  
  
As it flung open, she stepped in and set her stuff on her bed. There was another bed in the room but she didn't pay any attention to it. She took the boxes from her parents and said she could unpack the rest by herself.  
  
"Bye momma! Bye daddy!" she said as they walked down the hall, leaving Ellie along in her dorm room.  
  
She let out a sigh and sat on her bed. Might as well start unpacking...again...  
  
She set up all her stuff, put fresh sheets on her bed and sat down. Noticing how tired she was, she then moved to a laying position and let out a sigh. She then started thinking about Charlie...again...  
  
A smile crept onto her face.  
  
It was then that the door decided to open.  
  
Ellie sat up, startled and looked at the figure entering. The girl at the door seemed equally surprised.  
  
"Marquee?" Ellie said, bewildered.  
  
"Ellie?" the brunette from Ellie's Choir class said in equal confusion as she closed the door behind her.  
  
"Wh-what are you doing in my room?" Marquee finally got out.  
  
"I was about to ask you the same thing." Ellie said, before it clicked.  
  
"Huh? I thought you lived with your parents." Marquee said, it clicking in her head too.  
  
"I did. But I decided I wanted to live in the dorms. So you're my roommate, huh?" Ellie said, now switching from confused to perky.  
  
Marquee grinned; this was great! She and Ellie had really hit it off in Choir and she was really glad it was Ellie rooming with her, not some other preppy bimbo. Marquee had grown up in high society but never really fit in. All her childhood friends wanted to be cheerleaders while Marquee wanted to be in Choir. She had been disowned soon after so now she was drawn any person who resembled normalness in her book. Pretty much anyone who DIDN'T like cheerleaders. She and Ellie had a pretty in-depth conversation about cheerleaders in one class and learned Ellie shared her opinion though not for the same reason.  
  
"So Miss Thomson, how have you been?" Ellie asked with a grin.  
  
"Good, you?" Marquee replied with a smile.  
  
"Great!" Ellie chirped.  
  
"You wanna know what? You need a nickname." Ellie said randomly after a few moments of silence.  
  
Marquee raised her eyebrows. A nickname? That was random...  
  
"You're new name is...Kimmers!" Ellie exclaimed, proud of the name she came up with.  
  
"Kimmers? Where'd that come from?" Marquee asked with a laugh.  
  
Ellie prepared herself to explain. She had a reason. That was for sure. It just took a minute to explain.  
  
"Well, your name sounds like Mar-kee so it you switch the syllables, it's Kee-mar! Well, Kee-mar sounds retarded so I changed it to Kimmer. Just to add a special touch, I included the 's', thus giving you the name Kimmers." Ellie finished triumphantly.  
  
Marquee was shocked. "Wow...you put a lot of thought into that..."  
  
Ellie nodded enthusiastically and said with a laugh, "I have no life."  
  
The two girls laughed and talked for a while before heading to bed. It had been a long day for both of them.  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
Charlie was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. The Ducks were hanging out in Julie and Connie's dorm room. They were giving Banks and Guy mercy. It was usually Banks and Guy's dorm that they lived in. Julie and Connie's were just closer in this particular case.  
  
Charlie sighed. "I'm bored. Anyone got any brilliant ideas?"  
  
They all chorused "no" before the silence returned. They were all bored out of their minds. Despite the fact that it was past curfew and if they were caught in the girl's dorm, they would all get detention, they didn't move an inch. Besides, they would get caught if they tried to get out anyway...might as well hang out together for as long as humanly possible.  
  
They all groaned. The boringness was overwhelming. This was the first time they had nothing to say or do. The Ducks' lives were always eventful. But not tonight. Tonight it was just flat out boring and quiet.  
  
"This is so BORING! Guys, we have to do something! This is just...grrrr!!!!" Adam said, gripping his head angrily. He was going insane from the boredom.  
  
"Ducks, it's official. Banks has lost it..." Russ muttered from his spot in a chair.  
  
They all nodded in unison except Adam who was still gripping his head in frustration.  
  
After a few more minutes of silence, Connie spoke up. "This has got to stop. We have to DO something. I'm starving, who wants food?"  
  
They all turn to look at her and their arms all shot up into the air in exact unison. Their faces were still somewhat blank.  
  
"Any suggestions?" she prodded.  
  
They all, except Portman, shook their heads 'no'.  
  
"Pizza!" Portman said with enthusiasm.  
  
They all exchanged looks and decided pizza would be good. Pizza was always a good choice. You couldn't go wrong with pizza.  
  
"Sounds good! I love pizza!" Charlie agreed, equally as enthusiastic.  
  
A chorus of 'me too' erupted throughout the room. Connie reached over to her phone and dialed to phone number for pizza. Being bored out of one's mind wasn't good for one's sanity.  
  
Julie leaned on Adam's shoulder after removing his hands from his head. His elbows had been whacking her in the side of her head. That calmed him down a little. He was getting food and the silence was depleting. The boredom was slowing disappearing.  
  
"So what are we going to do? If we get caught, we're all dead." Adam said, concerned about getting in trouble. He was aware of it being past curfew.  
  
"Don't worry Cake-Eater, we won't get caught. If we don't get caught for putting Brazilian Fire Ants in Varsity's dorm, we won't get caught hangin' in here. You worry too much." Russ replied, now leaning casually in the chair. They all had seemed to brighten a little at the promise of food and conversation.  
  
Banks just pursed his lips. He wasn't so sure. Of course he knew they didn't get caught for the fire ants thing, that hadn't been too cool. Waking up to fire ants was NOT the thing he had wanted to do that morning/night.  
  
"Don't worry Adam, it'll be okay. They never check anyway." Julie assured her boyfriend.  
  
He felt a little better hearing it from Julie. You never could trust Russ for accurate information.  
  
"Yeah Banksie, we never get caught." Charlie said with a grin. He was just thrilled they were talking instead of staring blankly at the wall. He seriously had been close to insanity there. Conversation was essential.  
  
They waited as Connie gave the pizza guy on the other end of the phone line their dorm room number and location.  
  
Connie yelled something into the phone and slammed the phone back down. She then glared at the wall and crossed her arms, sending mad looks at the phone every now and then.  
  
The room quieted. What was wrong?  
  
"Connie?" Guy questioned his girlfriend.  
  
She just let out a sigh. "He says that they don't deliver here. It's supposedly out of their delivery range." She said, mocking him and making faces as she spoke.  
  
They all gasped in horror and shock.  
  
"What? We're going to STARVE!" Adam yelped, going into hysteria again.  
  
"No we're not! One time I was on the Internet and I ran into this site. It was like "fanfikshun.net" or something. But it has stories on it and I saw a section titled "The Mighty Geese" so naturally, I decided to check it out. There was this story about starving to death! I mean, isn't it ironic? Maybe we should check it out and get some ideas!" Goldburg said, running over to get on Julie's computer.  
  
"You are NOT touching my computer!" Julie said, diving over to protect her precious computer.  
  
"But c'mon Cat Lady! It's a matter of life and death!" Goldburg pleaded.  
  
"It'll be okay Jules, you can make sure he doesn't do anything. Just make it snappy, okay Goldie?" Connie said, her stomach rumbling.  
  
He nodded and Julie glared. They all gathered around the computer as Goldburg pulled up the Internet and typed in "fanfikshun.net".  
  
They all waited in anticipation as the computer thought...  
  
"This page cannot be displayed?!" Goldburg cried out in horror.  
  
They all gasped in horror and shock again.  
  
He tried again, but no avail. There was no hope for the starving teenagers.  
  
Charlie narrowed his eyebrows and studied the screen. Something wasn't right here...  
  
"EURIKA!!!" he shouted as he noticed the error.  
  
They all screamed and fell backwards. The sudden loud noise has scared them.  
  
"What was that for?!" Portman yelled as he held his hands up to his ears.  
  
"I figured it out! Goldie SPELLED it wrong!" Charlie said, very proud of himself.  
  
"Oooohhhh!" everyone said, giving revelation some deep thought.  
  
"Then how is it SPELLED, Einstein?" Goldburg asked, cocking an eyebrow.  
  
Charlie just pushed Goldburg out of the way to type in the correctly spelled title while Julie yelped in protest and Adam berated himself for not thinking of it himself.  
  
After typing in the correct "fanfiction.net" in the correct spot, they all waited in anticipation once again.  
  
ALAS! IT WORKED!  
  
"YESSSS!!!!! I KNEW IT!" Charlie shouted gleefully as he stared proudly at the screen.  
  
Goldburg knocked Charlie back out of the chair and clicked on the "movies" link on the home page. The rest of the Ducks watched in awe as the second line goalie worked his charm.  
  
After that, he scrolled down to the "T"'s and then clicked on "The Mighty Geese" link. He was grinning at this point. He was almost there!  
  
The computer was thinking! They were all sweating with worry. Would it go through? Would they ever know how to deal with starvation? WERE THEY GOING TO DIE OF HUNGER?!?!  
  
The little blue bar at the bottom of the page had less then a millimeter left. Goldburg was watching the screen intently.  
  
And a simple message popped up.  
  
The server is busy. Please try again later.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" the Ducks screeched in unison.  
  
"WE'RE ALL GONNA DDDDDIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!" Adam screamed dramatically and started shaking slightly.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" Julie cried, thinking something was wrong with her computer because Goldburg and Charlie had touched it.  
  
They all mourned, varying from throwing things to crying their eyes out until there were no tears left.  
  
"We were THAT close" Guy yelled, holding his thumb and index finger one inch apart to signify how close they had been.  
  
"I know!" Connie said, crying on his shoulder.  
  
"MY POOR COMPUTER!!!!!" Julie yelled, grabbing Adam by the front of his orange polo shirt and shaking him violently.  
  
Adam was still declaring they were going to starve to death as his head flopped back and forth at the mercy of Julie.  
  
Portman finally managed to pry Julie off Adam's shirt before the poor guy got Shaken-Duck Syndrome while Dwayne hog-tied her with a rope he pulled out from nowhere. Russ then stuck a sock in her mouth and put her on the bed.  
  
While all this craziness was running amuck, Charlie snuck back over to the computer. He was convinced he was going to solve this mystery. This, so- called busy-server problem. They WOULD read that story and they WOULD figure out how to get food!  
  
He had been thinking this through. He couldn't figure out where they had gone wrong. Shrugging, he picked up the computer, put it in his lap, and grabbed a screwdriver. Maybe if he opened the thing up he could figure it out...  
  
Julie made a high-pitched noise through the sock when she saw Charlie about to dissect her darling computer. She couldn't scream but she could still make high-pitched screeching noises.  
  
They all turned to her.  
  
"What's wrong Julie?" Fulton asked.  
  
"Mmmee's u-uh ill m umuerr." She tried to say through the sock.  
  
"What?" they all asked at the same time.  
  
"MMMEE'S U-UH ILL M UMUEER!" she um, noised louder.  
  
"What?" they all asked in confusion again.  
  
When she narrowed her eyes and made another loud, high-pitched screeching noise, Adam leaned over and carefully removed the sock, pulling his hand away quickly for fear of her biting him.  
  
"CHARLIE'S GONNA KILL MY COMPUTER!!!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, glaring at Charlie.  
  
They all looked at Charlie.  
  
Charlie looked up from his work to see everyone staring at him. "What?"  
  
They all stared at him for a second.  
  
Charlie looked down at the computer and the screwdriver, then back at everyone else.  
  
"CHARLIE GET AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER RIGHT NOW AND DON'T YOU *DARE* OPEN UP IT UP!!!!" Julie screamed again. She had been doing a lot of that lately.  
  
Charlie blinked a few times and continued looking between the screwdriver, the computer, and his friends.  
  
"Why not? I'm gonna fix it." He said, confused at what all the fuss is.  
  
"Do you know HOW to fix it?!" Julie questioned skeptically.  
  
"Well, no...but it can't be THAT hard, right?" he asked with a smile.  
  
"AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGG GET AWAY FROM MY COMPUTER!!!" Julie yelled again.  
  
This time they all rushed to stop Charlie, leaving Julie all alone on the bed, hog-tied.  
  
Portman tackled Charlie off the chair and onto the ground while Averman stole the screwdriver.  
  
"H-HEY GUYS! HEY, GIVE THAT BACK AVERMAN! I WAS JUST TRYING TO HELP!" Charlie yelled as he reached for the screwdriver.  
  
"NO! I forbid you to use this screwdriver! You will sit down and be quiet while we figure this out!" Averman yelled.  
  
Charlie pouted slightly. "But guys..." he whined.  
  
"No buts, young man! Now sit down and behave!" Portman scolded as he pointed to the corner opposite from Julie.  
  
Charlie let out an aggravated sigh and trudged over to the corner, sat down, and crossed his arms.  
  
They all screwed the plate Charlie had managed to remove back into place. They would see to it Charlie never got his hands on a screwdriver ever again.  
  
After sitting in his corner, all alone, for a moment, Charlie noticed Julie. She was all tied up.  
  
He grinned.  
  
Julie glared at him. He had nearly KILLED her computer!  
  
He started immaturely making faces at her.  
  
"Guys! He's making faces at me!" Julie whined.  
  
"She was LOOKIN' at me!" Charlie whined back.  
  
"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP ALREADY?!" Portman yelled.  
  
"Yes mommy." Charlie snickered  
  
Portman let out an aggravated sigh as he turned back to the other Ducks. They were smirking at him.  
  
"Heh, mommy." Luis snickered with a sinister grin.  
  
"Shuttup!" Portman said, lifting Luis up but his shirt.  
  
"Put Luis down!" Connie scolded.  
  
"EVERYONE! QUIET! It's back up..." Goldburg said in a mysterious voice.  
  
Charlie rushed over from his spot in the lonely corner.  
  
Julie glared. She had been left all alone. She was the only one who didn't get to see!  
  
"Guys! Guys what about me?" she said, glaring.  
  
They all ignored her. They were safe until she was untied. It wouldn't be HALF as much fun when she was free. So therefore they were leaving her tied up for as long as possible.  
  
The screen then filled with stories. Goldburg scrolled down the page in search of the single story that could save their lives.  
  
"THERE IT IS!" Goldburg yelled excitedly as he clicked on the link "A Midsummer Night's Dinner" and read the summary.  
  
"Wow, this is really it. Should we read it?" Ken said.  
  
"Of COURSE! We didn't go through all that insanity for nothing!" Connie declared.  
  
"HELLO?! People, remember me?" Julie called from over on the bed.  
  
"That's true..." Ken said in reply to Connie.  
  
"Click on it Goldburg!" Charlie said in childish excitement. The other Ducks chorused their approval of that idea.  
  
And then the moment of truth... 


	9. The Ice Cracks

Joshrox116- I'm glad you liked it, lol. It's was definitely the effects of a tad too much caffeine and sugar. I'm just glad I wrote it down before I forgot. ^_^ I was waiting impatiently for my friend Liz (RossRachelForever) to some over and spend the night so I decided to finish up the chapter. You can tell where I picked up gain...has a slightly different mood. ^_^  
  
Soccerbaby- Lol...sorry about that. I need to fill up the chapter so it wasn't only four pages long and that's what I ended up with. It started our fairly normal but then...yeah...this will be back on track. When I get writer's block, strange things happen...but thanks for the review and this will be a MORE normal chapter. ^_^  
  
Liz- Lol, yeah. I remember you being over here. You got the sneak preview. Lol...I know,I was just kiddin' with ya. I knew that you knew and said ya had been on my account. I was just bein' me! ^_^ Lol, and as the thing for Eric, knock yourself out and drool all ya want. Lol...*rolls eyes* you crack me up...  
  
Okay, I'm sorry this is out so late. I have to finish reading "To Kill A Mockingbird" for my Honors Pre-AP English class before school begins and I just got it. I spent all morning reading it and I've only read 96 of 296 pages...I'm exhausted...not to mention I'm running out of ideas here! ^_^ But I'm sure I'll come up with SOMETHING! *begins shaking violently* I wanna start another fic but I know for a fact if I do, this and "The Man He Chose Not To Be" will never get finished...it very torturous...so I'll just have to endure the pain...lol. This chapter gets back with the plot and thus starts the deciding moments for Charlie. Dun dun dun! Who will he pick? Lol...I have a twist coming up, sorta...lol...I'm trying to keep you guys interested. Not always the easiest thing in the world...lol...anyway...on to Chapter 8 and sorry for talking so much!  
  
Disclaimer- C-chan doesn't own the Mighty Ducks.  
  
-Chapter 8-  
  
...the lights went out.  
  
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!" they all screamed.  
  
"Where'd the lights go? What happened to the electricity?!" Adam yelled, feeling around for a wall.  
  
"Watch your hands Banks!" he heard Connie yell.  
  
"But that wasn't me!" Banks said defensively.  
  
"No, it was me!" Portman said, grinning in the dark.  
  
Connie growled and waved her arms around, trying to hit him but unable to find him in the dark.  
  
"Man, that's MY girlfriend you're touchin'! Hands off!" Guy exclaimed angrily. He couldn't FIND Portman, but he didn't care.  
  
"It's not like I MEANT to, I was actually trying to find Julie." Portman confessed, still grinning.  
  
"Gee, thanks! That's MY girlfriend! Thanks a lot, man." Adam said while glaring at the shadow he THOUGHT was Portman. He couldn't quite tell though.  
  
Portman grinned again. Julie began crying because her computer had shut off and she knew the blackout wasn't good for it. Adam groped around in the dark until he found her on the bed and sat down to untie her.  
  
Once everyone had finally calmed down again, it got quiet.  
  
"I'm dieing of starvation..." Goldburg grumbled, his stomach aching for food.  
  
"I say we all just go to sleep and eat a big breakfast. It's getting to late to get any food anyway." Charlie suggested.  
  
They all agreed and made places to sleep whether it was on the floor or on a bed. Suddenly the lights came back on but none of the Ducks even stirred. They had already fallen asleep.  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
The next day, they all woke up in a daze. They looked at the clock. They had thirty minutes to get back to their own dorms, get dressed, and get to class. The girls decided it was fair payback for trashing their dorm room.  
  
Charlie went with Fulton because he had run out of clean clothes and Fulton's dorm was closer. He would borrow a pair of clothes, wash them, and give them back later. Fulton said he didn't mind.  
  
They soon met back up in front of the school and each ran in their own respective directions.  
  
Charlie and Adam met up in class and sat down to talk about the sheer weirdness of last night's events and how hungry they still were. Charlie promised to 'forget' about last night if Adam promised to 'forget' about last night. And so they had a mutual understanding to disregard anything and everything that took place the night before. It was for the sake of both of their pride.  
  
Ellie walked in, grinning ear to ear. She was walking on air since she had been aloud to stay in the dorms. She didn't know why, she just thought it was the COOLEST thing. She had never lived in a dorm before!  
  
She sat down next to Charlie with a wide smile.  
  
"Morning Charlie!" she chirped.  
  
"Good morning..." Charlie muttered, wondering why she was so happy.  
  
"HOW can you be so...upbeat?" Adam asked, bewildered.  
  
She was about to say something but stopped. "I don't know...I'm not USUALLY a morning person...but I guess I'm just happy this morning. That's a good question Adam..." she muttered, her mood instantly changing to one of deep thought.  
  
Before any of them could expand upon their conversation, the teacher began class.  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
Ellie met up with Charlie in the hallway and noticed his shirt.  
  
She grinned and walked up. "I like your shirt." She said, laughing. The saying on it sounded like something her friend Sarah Lutz would say.  
  
He looked down at it and read it. He had just grabbed something random from Fulton's closet. He laughed too when he read it.  
  
"Yeah, it isn't even mine. It's Fulton's." he admitted.  
  
"The guy DOES have a good sense of humor." She said with a grin as they walked up to the other Ducks.  
  
They greeted each other briefly before separating again for their next classes. Ellie walked off to Choir again while Charlie, Adam, Fulton, and Russ headed for History. Julie, Portman, and Luis had English. The rest of the Ducks had Math.  
  
Before they knew it, the Ducks and Ellie were heading for lunch. Julie was trying to convince Goldburg she didn't WANT any more sweets. Many of them darted to the lunch line, knocking anyone who dared get in their way OUT of the way. None of them had eaten for at least 24 hours. Ken was starving because he had no meat on his bones and he hadn't had time to make lunch that morning. Averman gave him some chips and Julie gave him half her sandwich to hold him off. Ellie was telling Charlie how much her skating skills were beginning to improve. They were starting to get comfortable around each other again.  
  
Linda bit her tongue to keep from screaming. That GIRL was with Charlie AGAIN! Who did she think she WAS?!  
  
"Grrrr!!!!" she growled to herself as she clenched her eyes shut. She didn't know how much of this she could take. And what was that on Charlie's shirt?  
  
Her jaw dropped when she read it. How could he be so inconsiderate?! That was one of the MEANEST things she had ever read in her LIFE! That poor beaver...  
  
Then she saw Ellie tug at Charlie's arm to get his attention and something inside Linda snapped. That was it, she was mad at BOTH of them now!  
  
But before she could get over there, Dwayne asked Charlie if he could talk with him for a moment. Charlie obliged and the two boys walked off. Linda decided she could wait awhile. Their slow, painful deaths could wait a few more minutes...  
  
Charlie turned a confused glance at Dwayne. For once he didn't have his normal confused/dazed/goofy expression.  
  
"Dwayne?" he said, raising an eyebrow at the fellow Duck.  
  
Dwayne took in a breath and looked Charlie in the eyes. "I just wanted to tell you to make sure you have your intentions straight."  
  
Charlie furrowed his eyebrows and blinked. "Huh?"  
  
Dwayne took in another breath and said again. "Make you sure you have your intentions straight. With Ellie, I mean. She's a gullible girl and I don't want'er to get hurt. I think she really has feelings for you, Charlie. So if you have absolutely no intention of returnin' those feelins', don't lead'er on. You may just be jokin' around but if she lets herself believe there's more to it, she could seriously get hurt. If you leave room for interpretation, she's gonna to believe what she wants to happen. And that may not be the reality. Look, I just don't want'er to get hurt. That's all." He said seriously to Charlie.  
  
Charlie pursed his lips and nodded. He really didn't know where he stood with Ellie. It was all so confusing to him. He had a girlfriend that he loved, but Ellie was really growing on him. He didn't know what to do anymore. He wanted both, but he knew he couldn't. He could only have one. The question was, which one?  
  
The two walked back to the table solemnly. Ellie raised her eyebrows at them in question but Charlie just smiled and Dwayne said it wasn't anything important, just a quick question. Ellie reluctantly let them off and decided to interrogate Charlie and Dwayne later...  
  
Meanwhile, Linda watched. She hadn't heard them but she decided the lashing could wait till later that day. Right now she was going to sit and eat lunch with Charlie. His death could wait till later. She would also save her comment about his shirt till then.  
  
She walked over and sat down next to him.  
  
"Hi Charlie." She said with a grin on her face.  
  
Charlie turned to smile at her. "Hey Linda."  
  
Ellie turned a sour face to the other girl. "Hi Linda."  
  
Linda mirrored Ellie's distaste. "Hello Ellie..."  
  
There were few more moments of silence before the table erupted into random conversation.  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
Charlie was at his locker getting his stuff. They didn't have hockey practice after school that day so he was actually going to be able to walk Linda home.  
  
He saw Linda walk up and prepared to tell her the good news. He figured all rough edges would be mended when she realized he really WAS a responsible boyfriend, just not ALL the time.  
  
"Hi Linda." He said as she walked up.  
  
She smiled back. "Hi Charlie. Um, I think we need to have a talk..."  
  
Charlie looks at her, visibly confused. "Huh? We do?"  
  
She nodded, grabbed his arm and pulled him a few feet away, though Charlie didn't know why. There was nothing to pull him away from. Just his locker. And it wasn't like his LOCKER was going to stop her from saying whatever she felt needed to be said. He figured she just did it for the effect.  
  
"Yes, we do. Charlie, things aren't really working out." She said quietly.  
  
Charlie furrowed his eyebrows when the words clicked in his mind. "What do you mean? Are you breaking up with me?!"  
  
She bit her lip before her face hardened slightly. "It's just I don't feel you're being totally honest with me. You're always spending time with HER! We haven't done anything together in a really long time!" she retorted back, her tone changing slightly.  
  
"What? You're breaking up with me over Ellie?" he asked, narrowing his eyes.  
  
"No, that's not the only reason. You have an attitude problem too and you're easily angered. You're obsessed with hockey and you're wearing an offensive shirt!" she complained, pointing accusingly at his back shirt with a phrase written in white.  
  
Charlie blinked and read it. "What? "Save a Tree, Eat A Beaver"? How is that offensive? It's saving the trees!" Charlie protested.  
  
"At the expense of a poor helpless beaver!" Linda shot back.  
  
"Linda! It's just a shirt! It's supposed to be funny! Laugh! Ha ha! Ya know, a joke?" he said rolling his eyes.  
  
"Well it's still offensive. How can you wear that? Oh well, I still can't believe you're spending more time with ELLIE than me! Your girlfriend!" Linda said again.  
  
"So that's what this is all about? Ellie?" he nearly shouted back.  
  
"No, not necessarily. But you need to choose. You can't have both of us. So tell me, who will it be? Me or her?" Linda asked, folding her arms across her chest and narrowing her eyes.  
  
"I-uh." Charlie stuttered, not really sure. He hadn't had time to really decide. Dwayne had said the same thing at lunch but he hadn't seriously thought if over yet. Now he had to choose or he could lose Linda.  
  
She raised her eyebrows and began tapping her foot. "Well?" she questioned.  
  
"I-I don't know." He admitted, his brain swarming with confusion. He didn't know what he wanted.  
  
"Well you're going to have to choose, Charlie Conway. Me or Ellie?" she asked again.  
  
Charlie blinked and furrowed his eyebrows in thought. Who WOULD he rather be with? Now was NOT the time to go through pros and cons...  
  
He had wanted Linda so bad before, but did he now? They shared many of the same interests; music, pizza, and hatred for the school.  
  
But it seemed Ellie liked music and pizza too. He didn't know about the hating the school thing, but he knew for sure Ellie had been more pleasant around him then Linda had lately.  
  
And he really enjoyed hanging out with Ellie. She seemed carefree and different. Sure, she wasn't strong in sports but neither was Linda. Sure Linda came to games but that was only after he spent many long hours, or at least minutes, forcing her to come and watch. Ellie had come voluntarily and refused to leave him alone if he didn't let her come.  
  
But then again, Ellie hadn't even known her own home state HAD a hockey team.  
  
Linda had never heard of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.  
  
But neither had Ellie.  
  
This was hurting his brain!  
  
Charlie bit his lip as he continued thinking. He had to think fast. Linda wasn't going to wait forever. Why couldn't he have thought this over sooner?!  
  
He really enjoyed teaching Ellie to skate and she had a broad interest in everything. She had a good sense of humor and she didn't seem the type to blow up over something stupid.  
  
Linda seemed a little more high-strung. Not horrifically high-strung, but still. She had gotten pretty bent out of shape over Ellie. And she was breaking up with him over it! Unless this was a test or something...his head!  
  
"Charlie? Who will it be?" Linda asked, furrowing her eyebrows and sighing impatiently. He sure was taking a long time with this. Why didn't he just answer? It shouldn't be THAT hard to say he would rather be with her then Ellie!  
  
Charlie then remembered just a few moments ago when Linda had bashed him for liking hockey. She also had just said he had an attitude problem and was too easily angered! How rude can you get?  
  
He frowned slightly and narrowed his eyes. He didn't know if he could take that. He had been too busy defending the shirt, which he happened to find FUNNY, to retort about the OTHER insults. How could she seriously expect him to choose her after her telling him everything WRONG with him?  
  
He sucked in a breath and looked her square in the eye. He had his answer. He was going to straightened this out once and for all... 


	10. The Verdict

I'm lacking inspiration and fanfiction.net is being bad...I'm sorry. Lol...^_^ I've been busy being a beta reader for Liz (RossRachelForever) and we're working on a combined fic. We wrote it in a "play" type format and we have the job of converting it to the "book" format. There are 118 pages to do and we're nowhere near done...lol...it's an agonizing job but someone's gotta do it. I JUUUST finished "How To Kill A Mockingbird"...but the school also recommended reading "Of Mice And Men" which I don't even HAVE yet...grrr...not that I'm looking forward to reading it...life is so unfair to me...  
  
Okay, I'm sorry this took so long...I discovered the greatness that is Dawson's Creek and have read nearly every single Pacey/Joey fic in existence. It's true...I love'm! I've become a hardcore PJ shipper. And I've only seen 9 1/2 episodes...my mom made me go with her to drop of my cousin halfway through one of them...I cried...a lot...anyway, that's why this is so late. I've been caught up reading all the Dawson's Creek fics...it has its grasp on my life and doesn't appear to want to let me go just yet...it's even convinced me to buy the entire First Season on DVD...now if only I could convince my parents...wait! Alas! They said it was okay! But I won't get it till August 18...*cries* that's the first day of school! WAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!  
  
Liz- Thank you! *takes a bow*  
  
Joshrox116- Thanks. And I'm glad I jus finished it. It turned out being a pretty good book once I got into it. And thanks, that's good to know! ^_^ Liz and I are writing a collaborated fic under our combined account KittySpazway if you want to read it. It's a Julie/Charlie fic called "When Angels Cry". It has these little symbols throughout it and so that's weird but we can't figure out how to fix it...it's depressing me...grrr...anyway, I'm glad you're still reviewing my fic! ^_^  
  
Ashley- Lol...that is hilarious...that is REALLY funny...^_^ Thank you for sharing, that made me feel better. I was busy being depressed about Joey picking Dawson on Dawson's Creek instead of Pacey...and I say this as if you care. ^_^ Anyway, thanks for the input. I can't say that he won't pick either in this chapter, but I have something up my sleeve. You won't be completely disappointed. ^^ I like having fun with conflict...I agree, and I like joint fics. In fact, Liz and I are doing one. My email address I use for this account doesn't work but you can email me at gregorysmithfan@hotmail.com if ya want.  
  
Disclaimer- I don't own the Mighty Ducks.  
  
-Chapter 9-  
  
Charlie prepares to tell Linda. She is still waiting impatiently.  
  
"I...I...don't know how to say this..." he starts, biting his lip. How does one say something like this?  
  
Linda raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean? You are picking me, right?" she asked, starting to get genuinely concerned.  
  
Charlie sighed and continued biting at his lip. He really didn't know how to say it.  
  
But his eyes said it all. He didn't need to say a word. Linda had managed to get the gist.  
  
"What? Her?! YOU PICK HER?!" she nearly shouts.  
  
"Linda, there's no need to get worked up over it..." Charlie said, trying to calm her down and not cause a scene.  
  
"What? You don't even DENY it! I can't believe this! You picked HER over ME!" Linda said with horror.  
  
Charlie frowned. "Linda, calm down! Besides, you were the one who so graciously broke up with me about ten minutes ago anyway!"  
  
"Nuh uh! I did not! Oh yeah...I did...BUT STILL! Charlie how could you?" Linda moaned, put on a hurt face.  
  
Charlie held his hands up in defense. "Don't turn this on me! You broke up with me first! YOU'RE the one who has a problem with my liking hockey, says I have and ATTITUDE PROBLEM, claim I'm easily angered and got upset over a SHIRT!" Charlie yelled.  
  
"What?! Now you're turning this on ME! I didn't do anything! And that is an OFFENSIVE SHIRT Charlie Conway! You should be ashamed!" Linda retorted.  
  
Charlie just rolled his eyes. "Give me a break! Why would I be ashamed? You have NO sense of humor!"  
  
"Humor? HUMOR?! How is "Save A Tree, Eat A Beaver" supposed to be FUNNY?!" Linda asked with horror dripping from her voice.  
  
"What ISN'T funny about it? You're so uptight about everything! I've run into PLANTS with a better sense of humor! I bet THEY'D find the shirt funny!" Charlie protested.  
  
"WHAT?!" she screamed.  
  
"Look, I have to get home." Charlie said, glaring and turning to walk off dramatically.  
  
He stormed through the front doors of the school, out into the fresh air. He had hoped they would end it nice and clean but it had gotten out of hand. Sure he meant every word he said but some things were better left unsaid. He still couldn't believe she said he had a short fuse and bad attitude. Where'd she ever get THAT?!  
  
He just groaned. Luckily he didn't have any classes with her. He didn't know if he could face her anymore after that. It seemed they both ended up telling each other what they found wrong with the other. Charlie felt some remorse about it but it was beginning to fade. She had said just as many bad things about him.  
  
The boy passed the Ducks on his way across the grass but didn't stop. He heard a few question him but his steady pace never faltered. He knew if he started ranting about it now, he wouldn't be able to stop.  
  
It seemed the Ducks wouldn't put up with the cold shoulder. They eventually caught up to him, pinned him up against a tree, and made him talk.  
  
"Hey! Let me go!" Charlie said, struggling to break free.  
  
"Not on your life, Conway! Now tell us, why didn't you stop when we called you the FIRST time?" Russ asked, folding his arms across his chest and raising his eyebrows in question.  
  
Charlie groaned. It didn't appear as if they could take no for an answer.  
  
He searched the faces of a group. Not all of them were there. Only Russ, Fulton, Portman, Connie, Guy and Luis stood in front of him. Ellie wasn't with them either.  
  
He then allowed himself to sigh in defeat.  
  
"Fine...Linda and I just broke up. You happy?" Charlie replied with a hint of annoyance in his voice.  
  
Fulton and Portman then let him out of their grasp. They had been the ones holding him against the tree's rough bark.  
  
"Bummer. I'm sorry, man. Was it messy?" Russ replied, referring to the break up.  
  
Charlie nodded. "Gruesome. I gotta get home but I'll be sure to fill you in on the GREAT reasons WHY tomorrow." Charlie answered sarcastically, swinging his backpack back onto his shoulder.  
  
They all nodded and exchanged goodbyes.  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
It was the next day and they all met up as usual. They were back to routine again so they were happy. They all had decent amounts of sleep and food. Kenny also had brought his lunch this time.  
  
"Hey Charlie!" Connie called when she spotted him. They were clad in roller blades and ready to go.  
  
He grinned as he skated up to them. "Hey guys."  
  
They all exchanged greetings before Charlie's break-up with Linda was brought up.  
  
"So you gonna fill us in now?" Fulton asked.  
  
Charlie sighed and grinned. Everyone who hadn't been there after school looked very confused.  
  
"On what?" Banks asked.  
  
"Charlie broke up with Linda." Russ said to Adam.  
  
"Ooo, messy?" Adam asked.  
  
"Very." Russ informed him.  
  
Adam nodded and they all prepared to be enlightened.  
  
Charlie shook his head, still grinning. "Why do you all find this so miraculously interesting anyway?"  
  
"Because it is!" Julie replied, as if this was the obvious answer.  
  
Charlie cocked an eyebrow at them. "You guys are sad...but if you must know, it went from a simple quarrel to listing off what was wrong with the other person. Lots of yelling, screaming, accusing, and all that good stuff." Charlie summed up.  
  
"What was wrong with you?" Averman asked.  
  
"Okay, she broke up with me over:  
  
1. My "attitude" 2. Ellie 3. My easily angered nature 4. My fetish with hockey 5. And last, my shirt.  
  
Can you believe it? MY SHIRT! So WHAT it said "Save a Tree, Eat a Beaver"! It's SUPPOSED TO BE FUNNY! And it's not even my SHIRT! It's Fulton's! Thanks a lot man!" Charlie finished, eventually ranting by the time he go to the shirt part.  
  
"Hey, you asked for it!" Fulton replied with a grin. He happened to like the shirt.  
  
"So?" Charlie questioned, raising his eyebrows.  
  
"I take it she's a tree-hugger and an animal activist?" Luis asked.  
  
"It appears so..." Charlie muttered.  
  
"Oh well, I never liked her much anyway. She got mad over a shirt? That's so dumb." Connie concluded.  
  
They all agreed. At least the tension at lunch would be gone. Everyone knew that now Linda wasn't Charlie's girlfriend anymore, there would be no more glare-downs and arguments over who was favored most in Charlie's eyes. They could all breathe easy now.  
  
Speaking of Ellie, she chose then to stroll up. Somewhere in between this, they had managed to skate to school. Are they talented or what!  
  
"Hey guys. What's up?" she asked as she stopped to talk with the Ducks.  
  
"Nothing much." Charlie replied as they began conversation. No one bothered to say anything about Linda. There was nothing more to say.  
  
They took off for class. Nothing more was said about Linda until lunch...  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
Charlie and Ellie walked to lunch together as they had since the first day of school. It had become almost a habit and they had no intention of breaking it.  
  
When they sat down, Ellie looked around and saw no sign of Linda. She was confused because by this point, Linda would be hovering like vulture to assure her place by Charlie. But there was no sign of Linda anywhere.  
  
She decided to confront Charlie about this.  
  
"Um, Charlie? Where's Linda?" she asked plainly.  
  
Before Charlie could speak for himself, Russ cut in.  
  
"Oh, they broke up yesterday after school. Didn't you hear?" he explained.  
  
If Ellie hadn't been so shocked, she would've said something along the lines of 'If I had heard, would I be asking?'. But since she was still in shock, she didn't do so.  
  
"I-uh." She started, not knowing what to say. She was bubbling with happiness inside but she couldn't make it be known. She didn't want to make it seem like she was GLAD they had broken up. Even though in all honest truth, she was.  
  
"I don't know about anyone else, but I'm glad she's gone. We can finally have a peaceful conversation at the lunch table." Goldburg commented as he dug into his lunch. "Or least be able to EAT in peace." He added as an afterthought.  
  
Ellie grinned and started eating as well. She decided just not to comment at all. But she would see to it that she discussed this with Charlie over skating lessons...  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
School was over once again and Charlie had managed to avoid all contact with Linda throughout the day. They were in rocky water and would only slit each other's throats at contact. Charlie was just glad they had gone ahead and broken up instead of being mad and yet still being a couple. He wouldn't want to have to scramble for forgiveness anyway.  
  
"Hey Charlie." Ellie said, falling into step with him.  
  
He turned and smiled at her. "Hey Ellie."  
  
They just walked in silence from there. Ellie wanted to say something but didn't know how.  
  
"So...you and Linda broke up?" she asked, trying to start conversation.  
  
"Yep. But it was mutual so I have no problem with it." He replied coolly.  
  
"So it wasn't messy?" she asked.  
  
"Oh, it was. We were both yelling a lot. The feeling was mutual, it just wasn't a pleasant feeling." He said with a grin.  
  
She laughed. "I see."  
  
There were a few more moments of silence before Charlie started conversation up again. "So El, are you up for some ice skating?"  
  
Ellie grinned like a child on Christmas morning. She nodded enthusiastically.  
  
"Alright, I happened to have some cash that's burning a hole in my pocket, would you care to join me?" Charlie asked with a smile.  
  
"I would LOVE to join you." she said, grinning.  
  
He held out his arm in one exaggerating movement and she took it. They then walked off to enjoy their ice skating as all people should.  
  
~~~*~~~  
  
Linda walked outside into the fresh air and sunlight when it finally hit her smack in the face. Charlie wasn't her boyfriend anymore...  
  
She didn't have a date for the upcoming dance...  
  
She was beginning to think that she had made a BIG mistake... 


	11. Dwellings of the Past, Feelings of the M...

Okay...looooong wait and I'm very sorry. I've been moving into my new house and school started and I've been distracted and...yeah...I'm sure I could come up with more excuses but it won't help my case any so I'll just stick with how sorry I am. To make up for it, this is a nice long chapter. There's quite a bit of Ellie's past near the end so I hope it doesn't bore you too much. ^_^ Anyway...I can't think of much to say...oh yeah, when I go to my Stats page it says I only have 29 but when I go to the actually story, it says I have thirty. I went through and counted them all and FF.Net didn't post one of them. So if I don't reply to your review, it's because that was the one review that didn't show up. So if you had something you had to say, you can leave it in another review and maybe it'll pick it up this time.  
  
Natasha- Thanks. ^_^ I'm glad you thought so.  
  
Catbus- Lol, sorry for the wait. No, I do not have a beta and if you'd like, you can be my beta. I would be glad for your assistance because I tend to miss stuff every now and then. *gasps* SAY IT ISN'T SO! Lol...^_^  
  
Danslilsis- Um...I happen to like Dwayne...he's cool. o.O I wasn't being mean to him...meh, I'm confused. ^_^ Oh well, I'm always confused.  
  
Disclaimer- I don't own the Mighty Ducks.  
  
-Chapter 10-  
  
Ellie pranced around her room energetically. Her stereo was blaring "One Girl Revolution" by Superchic[k] as loud as it would go. Marquee had left Ellie all by herself that day and Ellie was eating it up. She was clad in short plaid sleep shorts and a midriff gray tank top. The 'Chi' straightening iron she had used earlier was still laying discarded on the bathroom counter where she had left it.  
  
She tripped over a dirty shirt and fell up against her dresser. Glaring angrily, she tossed the offending article of clothing into the laundry hamper.  
  
After seeing to it that the shirt got its proper punishment, she smiled again. Dancing and beaming, she continued her singing.  
  
'I wear a disguise I'm just your average Jane The Super doesn't stand for Model But that doesn't mean I'm plain If all you see is how I look You miss the Superchick within And I christen you Titanic Underestimate and swim  
  
I've got the rifle gonna be myself I've got the rifle gonna be myself I've got the rifle gonna be myself I've got the rifle gonna be myself'  
  
She scooped up a pair of worn pants and shot them into her hamper like a basketball and did a little dance when it went in.  
  
"She shoots! SHE SCORES!" she declared, grinning and jumping around.  
  
Ellie then continued prancing around her room giddily. She couldn't get over the fact that she finally had a chance with Charlie. She was practically ecstatic. In fact, she couldn't remember a time she was happier.  
  
'And I'll be everything that I wanna be I am confidence in insecurity I am a voice yet waiting to be heard I'll shoot the shot, "BANG!" That you'll hear 'round the world And I'm a One Girl Revolution I'm a One Girl Revolution I'm a One Girl Revolution'  
  
She pulled out a box from under her bed and plopped it onto her bed. Ripping the top open, she smiled happily at its contents. It was all her stuff from her old room that she hadn't unpacked yet.  
  
She took out two DVDs; one was a box set and the other was a single DVD. She propped them over by the TV and smiled at them lovingly.  
  
The Skulls and The Complete First Season of Dawson's Creek.  
  
She opened her DVD player and put The Skulls in and played it in the background. She loved that movie.  
  
Ellie watched the boat-racing scene at the beginning, drooling slightly at the sight, before skipping later into the movie. She wasn't in the mood to watch the whole thing.  
  
Then she moved on further down into the box. She found old pictures of friends and autographs she had bought off eBay.  
  
She loved eBay...  
  
She leaned over and hung the autographs above her bed fondly. She then stepped back to look at them for a split second before continuing on her decorating frenzy.  
  
Ellie let out an agitated sigh when one picture fell off the wall. She swiftly put it back in place and stuffed the rest of the box back under her bed. She had all the necessary things; the rest could wait until later.  
  
'Some people see the revolution But most only see the girl I can lose my hard-earned freedom If my fear defies my world I declare my independence From the critics and their stones I can find my revolution I can learn to stand alone'  
  
She then took it upon herself to continued dancing around her room, grinning. Life was good. The sour moment had dissipated and now everything was in place again. Ellie couldn't be happier.  
  
Okay, so she could. But that's beside the point.  
  
Ellie then continued singing the lyrics at the top of her lungs.  
  
'And I'll be everything that I wanna be I am confidence in insecurity I am a voice yet waiting to be heard I'll shoot the shot, "BANG!" That you'll hear 'round the world And I'm a One Girl Revolution I'm a One Girl Revolution I'm a One Girl Revolution  
  
And I'm a One Girl Revolution  
  
I'm a One Girl Revolution  
  
I'm a One Girl Revolution  
  
And I'll be everything that I wanna be I am confidence in insecurity I am a voice yet waiting to be heard I'll shoot the shot, "BANG!" That you'll hear 'round the world'  
  
There was a knock at the door but she couldn't hear it over the blaring song. The person outside began knocking louder, clearly agitated at being ignored.  
  
Ellie continued dancing around her room, singing. She frowned at Marquee's messy side of the room but shrugged it off, back in "the zone".  
  
'Everything that I wanna be I am confidence in insecurity I am a voice yet waiting to be heard I'll shoot the shot, "BANG!" That you'll hear 'round the world And I'm a One Girl Revolution I'm a One Girl Revolution I'm a One Girl Revolution'  
  
She smiled at the end of the song. She stopped and heard the persistent knocking. She blinked and wondered who would be knocking on her door at 9 AM on a Saturday.  
  
"It's open!" she yelled through the door as she flipped off her stereo and fell back onto her bed.  
  
She was met with a visibly frustrated group of Ducks.  
  
"Oh, hey guys." She said, smiling and grabbing a teddy bear. "What's up?"  
  
"Took you long enough." Russ said sourly as they all walked in, some sitting on beds and others looking through stuff.  
  
She watched them do this. "Oh yes, sure, you can come in. Make yourselves at home." She said with mock-sweetness mixed with sarcasm.  
  
"Oh, thanks." Averman said, grabbing some chips off of Marquee's dresser and began sharing them with Goldburg.  
  
Ellie rolled her eyes. She'd buy Marquee some more later. She couldn't help but smile, though. They weren't the most POLITE people in the world, but they were the best friends she could ever ask for.  
  
"What's this?" Luis asked as he watched the screen. It had a brunette guy and a blonde girl standing in a steamy bathroom talking.  
  
Ellie looked over to the TV. "The Skulls." She answered simply.  
  
The other Ducks looked to the screen.  
  
"Man, this is heavy stuff, El! I didn't know you watched these kinds of movies!" Portman declared, sitting on her bed and watched as the two leading characters made out in the bathroom for a while.  
  
Ellie rolled her eyes and fast-forwarded to the next scene.  
  
"Aww! What'd you do that for?" Portman complained as the scene flipped to the outside of a building; it was far less entertaining then watching two people play tonsil hockey.  
  
"Because it seems you people aren't mature enough to handle it." She said, raising her eyebrows and leaning back into her pillows.  
  
Meanwhile, Charlie was looking at pictures of her friends she had on her wall. There was a picture of her and two other girls smiling. They were about 12 in the picture. One of the girls had short, straight blonde hair while the other had fluffy, shoulder length light-brown hair.  
  
Another picture was one of her with three other people. The other people were two older girls and an older guy. The guy had dark brown hair and brown eyes and had his arm slung around one of the other girls. She had shoulder length red hair. The other older girl was shorter then the rest and had short, curly, light-brown hair that was slightly frizzed. Ellie was standing on her toes and had and arm reaching up to the guy's shoulder. She couldn't quite reach it though.  
  
Another was of Ellie and a Mexican girl in a bright blue spaghetti-strapped shirt. The girl had an arm slung around Ellie's shoulder and they were laughing. Behind them was a big tree where some other kids were sitting. In the tree was a boy the same age as Ellie alongside a boy a few years younger. Next to them was what looked like the girl in the blue shirt's younger brother. Running behind Ellie and her friend was a blonde girl that looked a year younger then Ellie and a boy a few years older then them. Everyone looked so happy in the picture.  
  
Charlie smiled. Those must have been her friends back in Texas. He could bet she missed them a lot.  
  
His attention was drawn to the movie playing as Ellie tried desperately to explain to them that it was NOT a porn movie and that the scene they saw was the only "heated" scene in the movie. Not to mention that "heated scene", as they said, was nothing more then kissing. They didn't believe her.  
  
"Guys, I'm telling the truth! It's a clean movie now stop insulting it." Ellie retorted, crossing her arms.  
  
"I'm sure it is, little Ellie. You just keep telling yourself that." Fulton teased as Ellie stuck out her tongue and threw a shoe at Goldburg's head.  
  
"Ow! What was that for? I wasn't even saying anything!" Goldburg complained, rubbing his head.  
  
"For eating my roommate's chips." Ellie stated.  
  
"Les did too!" Goldburg complained, pointing an accusing finger at Averman, upset that only he had been punished when Averman had done it as well.  
  
She turned to Averman. "Oh yeah."  
  
"Meep!" Averman squeaked as he hid behind Goldburg.  
  
"You shall NEVER ESCAPE!" Ellie declared as she leaped off the bed and whacked Averman on the head with a pillow.  
  
The redhead yelled again and jumped behind Charlie, nearly knocking him down.  
  
Ellie then hit Charlie, taking it all in stride.  
  
"Hey! Watch it!" Charlie yelled, covering his head with his hands for protection.  
  
"Run Charlie! Otherwise I might just have to hit you." Ellie said, hitting him with her pillow again.  
  
Charlie grabbed another pillow for defense. "You'll never take me alive!" he said, hitting Ellie's legs with the pillow.  
  
She retaliated by smacking him in the face, blocking his pillow from attacking. Meanwhile Averman snuck away into freedom and safety.  
  
"Aha! I escaped!" Averman declared as he and Goldburg began eating the rest of Marquee's secret snack stash that well...wasn't quite so secret anymore.  
  
The other Ducks were watching the end of the movie religiously. It was an intense suspense thriller and it had reeled them in.  
  
But Charlie and Ellie's laughing kind of ruined the moment.  
  
Soon enough, the movie was over.  
  
"I can't believe that happened! The dude shot his DAD instead of that other dude!" Fulton said, in awe of the movie's ending.  
  
"I know, man. It was crazy. But didn't that one dude look a lot like Charlie to any of you guys?" Portman said, pointing out "Luke McNamara's" resemblance to their team Captain.  
  
"Yeah, you're right!" Connie said, as if noticing it for the first time. "He does, doesn't he?"  
  
"Yeah, but the guy on the movie is a little taller." Julie pointed out.  
  
"How can you tell?" Ken asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
Julie shrugged. "I don't know. I just can. It must be a gift."  
  
They all thought about this for a moment before shrugging it off. They would ponder upon it later.  
  
"Well I guess we should get goin'. Thanks for letting us take over your room, El." Dwayne said, tipping his hat to Ellie.  
  
She giggled, hit Charlie again and flashed Dwayne a smile. "Anytime, Dwayne. Just make Kimmers is gone or she'll probably shoot you."  
  
They raised an eyebrow at her.  
  
"Kimmers, erm, Marquee is my roommate and if you just randomly walk in, she might grab her dart gun and chase you guys out. She'll probably think you're from the Mafia and you're here to take her away." Ellie said with a laugh.  
  
They all made an 'o' with their mouths and laughed. Charlie hit her with the pillow again and she returned the favor.  
  
"Well I guess we'll see you guys later?" Guy asked, raising his eyebrows.  
  
"Yeah. See ya!" Ellie said, smiling and waving.  
  
"Luis! C'mon!" Connie called out to Luis. He had been drooling over Katie Holmes on the front of Ellie's "Dawson's Creek" DVDs.  
  
He turned to them, pouted, and put the case back down. "Okay." He said softly as he walked back over to the group, sad that he had to part with his eye candy.  
  
All the Ducks but Charlie had left and then Charlie and Ellie resumed their game of pillow fight.  
  
Once they had stopped the fight and the laughter had died down, they sat on Ellie's bed and Charlie turned to look at the pictures again.  
  
She just lay back and buried her head in the pillows. This morning had turned out quite fun.  
  
"Who are these people?" Charlie asked, running his fingers gently over the pictures on her wall.  
  
She sat back up and looked at the pictures.  
  
"My friends." She answered simply.  
  
He grinned. "Well, I figured that much. I mean WHO are these people?" he asked, emphasizing 'who'.  
  
Her face melted into a smile. She could lose herself in his eyes but she had to remain focused and in control. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.  
  
"Um, well, okay. I'll start with this picture." She said, motioning the one of her and two girls Charlie had looked at earlier. "They're my friends Ali and Shaelyn. Ali is the brunette and Shaelyn is the blonde. That's back before I cut my hair shorter. It was still to my back in that picture, as you can see." She said.  
  
Charlie nodded and studied the picture closely. Ellie then moved on to the next picture of her, two older girls and the older guy. "This is me, my brother Cameron, his girlfriend at the time, and her friend who became OUR friend, Deanna. The redhead who was my brother's girlfriend is Liz. Even after they broke up we all stayed friends. She is the closest thing to a big sister I have. I really miss her. Of course, as I said, the other girl is Deanna. She drove us everywhere before my brother or Liz could drive. Her and Liz are both about 20 now; my brother is 17. I miss all of them a lot." She said as she began to subconsciously bite her lip.  
  
Charlie looked over to her. She seemed to really miss these people. He guessed it would be hard to leave your friends. He couldn't imagine losing the Ducks so if she was as close to them as he thought, she was really upset.  
  
But just as quick as the forlorn look came, it was swept away when she moved onto the third picture.  
  
"This is of me and my friends that lived in my neighborhood. The girl I'm standing with is Connie Cotton. She was probably my best friend in the world before she started getting herself in trouble all the time. The police knew her by name and she was always gone. She would run away for days at a time and have us all worried sick about her. I really miss her a lot. They had to put her in an mental institution to keep her from freaking out on her parents." Ellie said, getting a distant look in her eyes as she remembered her best friend being so sweet around her, but comparing that to the storied she heard about Connie threatening her 4-year-old half-sister and 9-year-old half-brother. The girl in the picture looked like she was the happiest person in the world but Ellie had seen the scars on her wrist and the violent mood swings first hand. She wished she could rewind back to a few years back when everything was okay, Connie wasn't going through severe depression and everyone in their neighborhood was a close-knit group of friends.  
  
She had to shake her head to clear her thoughts again. That would only depress her even more. Ellie made a note to herself to write a letter to Connie later.  
  
Charlie frowned at the distance in her eyes and could only wonder what was swarming through her mind. The people in the photo look like they were having the time of their lives but from Ellie's explanation, it seemed things had changed since this picture was taken.  
  
She blinked a few times and continued from where she had left off. "The two running behind us are Ashley and Johnney Martin. As you can tell, they are brother and sister. Ashley is one year younger than us, and Johnney is my brother's age. Now onto the people in the tree...that tree is infamous for being climbed by all of us. I used to be scared to climb in it because, well, I used to be a wuss. But Connie and I used to hang out in the tree for hours. One time she and I were up there while everyone else was on the ground. She climbed out on a weak limb and fell off, hitting branches on the way down. We all nearly died of a premature heart attack but she was fine. Ashley's grandmother, who I guess you could say owned the tree because it was in her yard, was scared they would sue her so she wouldn't let us climb it for the longest time afterwards. But anyway, Connie was just a little dazed and bloody but she was begging to come back out just minutes later. Oops, I'm getting sidetracked here, sorry." Ellie said with a sheepish grin.  
  
Charlie smiled. "Not a problem, Ellie. You just keep on talking." He encouraged.  
  
She smiled and gave him a silent thank you. "Well, the brunette guy right there?" she said, pointing to the guy about their age. "That's Brian Martinez. Connie, him, and I were the Three Stooges for the longest time. But then we grew apart, Connie and I got closer and we practically never saw him again. He was sucked inside his house and never came out again. Then Ashley came and filled the void. Anyway, getting sidetracked again. The boy right there," she said, pointing to a younger, slightly chubby boy a few years younger. "that's Brian's little brother Joey. He was a little butthead for the longest time. He would throw dirt and me and Connie and break my toys before throwing him onto of his roof. Then Brian would beat him up, but that's not the point." Ellie said with a smile. Charlie grinned at this too. "And the last kid left is little Charlie Jones, Connie's younger brother. He was dubbed Chuck long, long ago and no matter what he does, he will always be little Chuck. He begged to be called Charlie but we couldn't comply with his wishes." Ellie said as the two started laughing.  
  
"Poor thing." Charlie said, sympathizing with the nine year old.  
  
"Meh, he'll live." Ellie said with a sly grin.  
  
Charlie laughed again. "So Chuck and Connie have different last names?" Charlie asked, raising his eyebrows.  
  
"Oh, yeah! I forgot. Chuck is Connie's half brother. Her real dad left her mom when she was really young and her older brother, Christian, was still around. She was about three and Christian was probably about ten. I'm not really sure. Connie had just moved in a few years before Christian pulled a vanishing act. Anyway, then her mom remarried Mark Jones and, two years later, had Chuck. Then about five years later, little Candace Jones was born. Back around the time Connie was nine and Chuck was five, Christian ran away to live with his grandmother in Mexico. Connie was absolutely crushed. Their parents knew it was better that he live with his grandmother because he was in gangs and causing trouble with them. He had been a horrible example for Connie and I guess that's part of the reason she was so prone to hanging in the 'wrong crowd'. But Connie was still Connie Jones back then. Several years ago, however, her grandmother, a different one that lives in Palestine, Texas, made the drastic mistake of letting her meet her REAL father again. She stayed with him and he sat around, did drugs and drank. His new wife could be NICELY described as trailer trash, you could say, and they let her do whatever her little heart desired. She loved it. Her parents back home had rules but these new parents didn't. They bought her everything she wanted and would let her smoke or drink if that would make her momentarily happy. When she came back, she was a different Connie and began taking his last name, Cotton, as her own. Though it was technically her birth name, they couldn't stop her. It's really pretty sad." Ellie explained, frowning at the memory.  
  
Charlie bit his lip. This was some pretty deep stuff. He could see Ellie's blare stare and wanted to comfort her. He had wondered what kind of friends Ellie had had back in Texas but he wasn't expecting a future-felon as a best friend.  
  
He then noticed her hair. He knew something had been different and now he felt like a ton of bricks had been dropped on his head.  
  
It was straight.  
  
He just stared at her for a moment, reveling in the moment. She subconsciously tucked her hair behind her ear.  
  
Charlie found his hand slowly inching towards her hair. It was almost as if he had no control over his actions.  
  
She saw his hand in her peripheral vision and they locked eyes. Blue clashed with blue as his hand froze for a moment.  
  
After a second his hand finished its journey and gently felt her hair. "Your hair...it's straight." He said softly as his hand trailed down her face and caressed her cheek.  
  
She closed her eyes for a second, savoring the moment. She knew it would be gone soon so she memorized every single sensation and locked it away in her memory.  
  
Her eyes fluttered open only to see him still looking at her. She got lost in his eyes, just staring back.  
  
Before he knew it, he found himself leaning forward slightly as his eyes slowly closed. If his eyes had remained open, he would have noticed Ellie doing the exact same thing.  
  
Their faces were mere inches apart. Both hearts beating wildly in their chests. His nose brushed hers... 


End file.
